


L-Force

by Ironlegionaire



Category: The Loud House (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-16 20:53:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 49,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19939597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ironlegionaire/pseuds/Ironlegionaire
Summary: They are the greatest Superhero team ever created! From the mind's of Clincoln McLoud Comes The L Force! A tie-in story to Lincoln's origin.





	1. Chapter 1

In a small city, people were peacefully walking down the streets. Cars were honking, the sun was shining and everyone was just enjoying their day.

_**"Royal Woods Michigan. A nice small town. Low crime rate, good schools, and pretty much just a good place to live."** _

BOOM! Out of nowhere a massive explosion occurred. The entire street was bathed in dust and smoke. As the smoke cleared, a massive shadow grow over top of the people. Looming above them was a gargantuan black humanoid lizard creature. It roared at the ground, terrifying the people below and making them flee in fear.

_**"Except for that."** _

The creature began to walk down the street, crushing cars beneath its mighty feet. The people within quickly evacuated their vehicles lest they be crushed inside their flimsy machines.

_**"Ever since a massive explosion of energy from space, this city has gone from being a nice place to live to being voted "Weirdest city in America". Giant monsters, super villains, and just general insanity have just become everyday in this city."** _

Inside one car was a small child struggling to remove her seat belt. Tears began to flow from her eyes as she saw the approaching sight of the creatures enormous foot. She tugged and pulled at her seat belt with all her might but she couldn't manage to remove it from the clip. Suddenly, all the light in the car was eclipsed by the beast's foot. The little girl looked up and closed her eyes, fearing this was the end.

Then BAM! Faster then the eye could see, a streak of pure white light smashed straight into the monster's chest, knocking it backwards and preventing it from crushing the car.

_**"Luckily this city has something that most others don't.** _

Levitating in an aura of the white energy was a child no older than 6 with her hands on her hips and a wide grin on her face. She had short blonde hair and was wearing a pink bodysuit covered in shiny gems, with a pink and white cape. Atop her head sat a shining tiara and across her waist was a white belt with a pink uppercase L at the center. With the smile on her face it could be clearly seen she was missing her two front teeth.

"Never fear, Princess is here!" She proclaimed proudly.

_**"That's right. We've got superheroes."** _

Angry at being hit the beast rose to it's feet and tried to repeatedly swat away the sparkly super heroine but she simply dodged out the way, a trail of light following her when she flew.

_**"Little miss glitter up there is Princess AKA Lola Loud. She's basically a tiny energy generator. Flight, super-speed, energy bursts, the whole package. But don't let the catchphrase and the shiny costume fool you. She's not very modest. She's been practicing her superhero pose for weeks."** _

While the titanic monstrosity attempted to stomp the hero, the little girl sat in the car, focused on the fight taking place over her head. She was startled when she felt the car suddenly begin to rise and feared another beast had arrived. Looking down she saw another superhero lifting the vehicle. This one was much older, around 13, with brown hair in a ponytail. She wore a red and white suit with armored pads on her elbows and knees, a helmet with a chin strap, and an L belt, only her L was red.

"Don't worry kid I've got you." Said the hero. She held up the car and carried it in the opposite direction from the battle.

_**"Lynn Loud AKA Athlete. Powers are pretty simple. Superhuman strength, speed, and endurance. She's basically a super jock. If it requires being strong or hitting something, she's your girl."** _

Up in the air, Princess was zipping around the monsters mighty paws as she bombarded the beast with energy blasts. Enraged, the beast slapped it's hands together creating a shockwave that flung her miles away.

No longer burdened by the small pest, the creature turned around and found itself slammed in the face by one of the few intact cars. Hurt and confused, it looked around until it spotted a small figure on the ground. This one was another blonde, about 17, wearing a light blue suit and unlike the other two wore a sleek ovular mask around her eyes. On her waist was an L belt with her corresponding color.

"Big mistake freakshow. Nobody hurts my sibling but me!" She turned to look at another surviving car and held out her palm. Both her hand and the car glowed with light blue light as she hurled the vehicle at the beasts face. She began pelting the monster with cars.

_**"Lori Loud AKA Control freak. Just don't call her that to her face because she hates it. She tried to get people to call her telekimistress, but when your super bossy and your super powers telekinesis it's just not gonna happen."** _

Annoyed by the hail of cars, the monster raised its foot to stomp the human into paste, but when its foot was an inch from the heroe's head, it found it couldn't manage to get its foot all the way down. Upon closer observation, a yard of what appeared to be a white and black striped rope was tied around its foot. Following the rope, the source was revealed to be the arm of another browned haired girl, this one was about 14, standing on the roof of a building. She wore a yellow suit with a black and white ruffle around her neck, a line of buttons going down her chest, a big red fake nose on hers, and black and white stripes on her arms and legs, one of her arms was now stretched like rubber around the monsters foot. On her waist her L was a bright banana yellow.

"Oops, sorry for trying to _wrap this up,_ but I saw you were trying to end this show with a _SQUISH_ instead of a BANG! HAHAHAHAHA Get it?"

_**"The living rubberband is Luan Loud AKA The April Fool. Super Stretchy body, super rubbery limbs, and super Lame puns."** _

The monster raised its fist to smash the jokester, but once again found its limb restrained, this time from a length of string. On the opposite building was another blonde hero, her arms outstretched commanding the fabric that was being pulled from the multicolored spools of thread that hung on her belt in two rows surrounding her Cyan L. Her suit was essentially the same as the others.

"Don't worry Lori, we've got you." She called down to the Control Freak.

"Leni, I keep telling you not to use our real names!"

"But you just used mine."

"Dang it!"

_**"That is Leni Loud AKA Tailor. I gotta admit, the power to control fabrics is way less lame then I thought it would be. While Leni might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, with that power she might as well be a genius."** _

Angered at being bound, the monster pulled with all it's might, tugging both heroines off their respective buildings to the ground into Control Freak. All three became tangled in a mix of Fool's limbs and Tailors strings.

"Guess we got a bit _tied up_ huh?" The Fool nervously joked. The other two groaned.

Finally free from the humans attempting to stop it, the beast once again attempted to stomp the bound heroines into the ground, but found its foot colliding with nothing but the ground. Confused, the beast looked and saw the ball of super beings getting dragged away by what appeared to be a clawed hand made of pure darkness. As it followed it didn't notice an 8 year old girl hiding in an ally directing the hand with her own hand covered in pure shadows. She was wrapped in a black cloak and hood with a skull clasp, underneath of which she wore a black bodysuit just like the others with a black L belt.

_**"Lucy Loud AKA Night. Lucy's power to manipulate shadows was basically her dream-or should I say nightmare-come true. She originally wanted to be the princess of darkness, but Lola made sure everyone knew there was only one princess on the team."** _

Following the orb of captured supers, the beast attempted to grab it with its jaw when it was assaulted by a by a blast of high powered sound. The source was a sixteen year old browned haired girl standing on the sidewalk bearing a guitar. She wore a black leather jacket decorated with spikes over her purple suit and bruise colored L belt. Around her neck was what looked like a mix between a spiked dog collar and a high tech microphone.

"Aw, whats the matter mate? Not Liken' me song? Well have a listen to this!" She shredded her guitar while at the same time letting out a high note which came out as a hypersonic shriek. The monster found itself pinned to the ground by the waves of noise.

_**"Luna Loud AKA Rocker. Luna and her power fit like a glove. She loves music and with the power to manipulate sound I can definitely say her music has never sounded the same."** _

Trembling, the creature attempted to pull itself off the ground and attack when it saw its body was slowly becoming encased in a metallic liquid covered in green circuitry lines. It struggled to escape but eventually found itself encased in the now hardening substance up to it's head.

On the ground, the three heroines, with the help of Night and Athlete who had returned after getting the car to safety, had managed to get themselves untangled and now stood united to face the beast. When they saw the threat was encased in the metallic substance, they looked around until they saw an intelligent looking 4-year old riding down the street on a hover scooter made of the same substance. She wore a labcoat over a green bodysuit and L belt. On her face was a green clear visor and on her wrists were gauntlets that were dispensing the nano machines.

_**"Lisa Loud AKA Brainy. Lisa was the one most against us being supeheroes, saying "these abilities should be studied for science" but now look at her. Her powers just made her smarter than she already was but with her super-super smarts she ended up inventing that nano ooze. It can become pretty much anything she can think of and with a brain as big as hers, that's a lot of stuff.** _

"Now that you escaped you're entrapment perhaps we can defeat this colossal reptile and protect our home?"

The team all bore blank looks.

"Let's kick that things butt already!" She gestured behind the team. "Pet, if you would be so kind?"

The person she was referring to was another 6 year old. She looked exactly like princess but her suit and L were blue, lacked sparkles, her hands were covered in thick brown gloves, she had on a red cap, and around her waist was a utility belt. She was surrounded by a black cat, a black and white dog, a frog, a canary, and a hamster in a clear ball, all wearing blue suits. Cliff, Charles, Hops, Walt, and Geo.

"It would be my pleasure." She growled. She was going to pound this thing for what it had done to her twin. She removed her glove and placed her bare hand on the dogs back. There was a flash of light and the dog grew to the size of a small truck with his fangs and claws much longer and sharper. The girl climbed onto his back and mushed him forward. The dog bound to the monster, still on the ground being hit by rockers blast, and launched itself into the monsters face with a roar.

_**"Lana Loud AKA Housepet. Of all of us, I think Lana enjoys her powers the most. She can make her pets as big and strong as she want's and together they kick serious butt."** _

Control freak pressed a device in her ear. "Link you ready?" She asked.

_"You bet Lori"_

The team glared up the beast currently contending with their younger sister and pet canine.

"ATTACK!"

With that the team charged, prepared to battle this beast for their city.

_**" Together they are the L Force. The greatest super team the world has ever seen."** _

* * *

_**"And then there's me"** _

In a metal room was a circle of computers, screens, and high tech devices. Sitting in the middle was an 11-year old in an orange T-shirt and blue jeans. He was currently looking at a monitor bearing the video feed of the battle downtown. To the rest of the world these people were superheroes, but to him they were just his sisters.

"Okay guys, let's do this." He said excitedly.

_**"Yep, that's me. Lincoln Loud AKA Link. I know real creative, but when you're basically a talking voice in someone's ear a codename isn't all that important. And before you even ask, yes I have powers too. Just not the stopping robbers or fighting monsters kind."** _

Observing the battle his brain began to calculate powers, battle strategy, and team tactics which he saw as being green arrows pointing towards different places and people

"Okay Lisa, keep that thing encased in nano goo as long as you can. Luna keep it down! Don't let him get up and make sure the others have plenty of opportunity to attack! Lana..."

_**"Lisa says my power is a kind of Enhanced perception. I can see and plan ahead for all sorts of stuff but since my power can't help punch monsters in the face I'm here doing this.** _

Control Freak threw another car. Athlete grabbed a manhole and slammed it into the monsters nose. Brainy created a ram with her nano tech and smashed it into the creatures face. Fool blew her fist to the size of a boat and socked the beast. Tailor lashed it with whips of fabric. Houseper and Charles tore into it, and Rocker kept blasting waves of sound.

_**"So yeah, this is pretty much my job. Lori may be the leader but I am the man with the plan. And my plan's always come through."** _

On the screen, the creature gave a mighty roar and shattered Brainy's barrier. It grabbed Housepet and Charles and threw them into Rocker. it once again pounded its hand together to create a shockwave that sent the team flying

_**"Except when they don't"** _

"Link, what do we do." Athlete asked worriedly.

Lincoln scrambled. He looked around trying to think of anything they could do to stop the monster when he noticed something on a sonar scanner. Something was quickly approaching the battle. Something fast. Something small.

Lincoln smirked.

"Luan, Leni use your powers and tie up that things legs as tight as you can!"

" _What'll that do?"_ Asked Control Freak.

"Just trust me!"

He watched as Fool and Tailor wound their arm and thread respectively around the creatures legs. The beast's motions became much more jerky and clumsy.

Lincoln gulped. Just a few more seconds...

* * *

Back at the fight, the team was panicking. They were mostly standing back letting Tailor and Fool do their thing, but none of them could understand Lincoln's plan. The monster was beginning to snap Leni's thread and Luan's arms were beginning to weaken.

The monster bent over, preparing to swipe at the team-.

And for the second time that day was smashed into by Princess!

The titanic lizard fell to the ground and before it could recover was hit by a massive energy burst!

Had it been able to turn around it would have seen a disheveled Lola glaring at it in anger, her eyes pure white and sparking off energy.

"YOU...MESSED UP...MY COSTUME!" Fueled by anger, she released a blinding column of energy! When it cleared, the first thing anyone saw was Princess standing triumphantly over the downed monster.

Slowly people gathered around and cheered at yet another victory for the L force.

The team gathered around the creature, Brainy preparing the injured beast for transport, basking in the glory of having won the day again.

Back in the room Lincoln simply stared at the screen, watching his sisters soak up the glory and be congratulated on their heroics.

_**"And again The L Force has saved the day. Awesome.** _


	2. Issue 1-2

After the battle, Lincoln sank back in his chair, letting out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Even if he wasn't the one out their fighting monsters and villains, it was still nerve wracking seeing his siblings out there. Knowing they'd be back soon, he decided to go and get ready

He got up from his desk and walked off down a hall.

" _ **This is L-Force Base. A subterranean headquarters with everything your young superhero team could want."**_

He walked through a room set up like a giant terrarium. It was partially filled with water to form a small pond and on the dry land parts were overly large pet toys including a squeaky mouse, a ball, and a dog bone with several scratch marks in it. On the wall hung a perch with a bowl filled with birdseed.

" _ **An exercise area for Lana's pets….."**_

Next, he came through a circular room filled with humanoid robots swinging weapons. One swung an axe near his head, but he slid out of the way, allowing it to collide with another robot.

" _ **A high tech training area…"**_

Then, he walked into a room filled with all kinds of glowing machines, chemicals, and scientific materials.

" _ **An extensive science Lab…."**_

The final room he walked into was occupied by a row of 9 clear cases each with a mannequin of different size. Next to them were a row of 10 lockers each stuffed with gear and equipment.

" _ **And of course an equipment area for all our stuff."**_

He walked to his locker and entered in the passcode to open it. Inside where two things: His cell phone and a high-tech wristband. He stuffed the phone into his pocket and strapped the band around his wrist. Feeling ready he headed back.

The teams meeting room somewhat resembled a living space. There was a sofa surrounding a large round table set in the center. Lincoln's area, a silver crescent shaped desk, was covered in everything from holographic displays to high tech examination devices and in the center was a rectangular computer monitor.

" _ **And this is where I work. Providing info and giving the battle plan."**_

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a corner wall covered in newspapers. Each on had a dynamic headline and a picture of one of his sisters in their hero personae doing something incredible. Staring at them, Lincoln felt filled with a sense of determination.

" _ **But one day I'll do more than just sit behind a screen."**_

He heard the sound of approaching footsteps. His sisters had returned.

Coming out of the left entrance, the team was still discussing their latest victory.

"Did you see me out there? Pounding the snot out of that monster? Princess saves the day again." Lola bragged, fluttering her cape

Her twin rolled her eyes. "Yeah sure. Remind me again, who was the first one to get smacked away by that thing?"

Lola's eyes narrowed and crackled with energy. She moved face to face with Lana. "And who exactly was smacked away with her stupid dog until I came and saved their butts?!

Lana pressed her face closer. "We were handling things just fine!"

Lola pressed her face closer. "In your dreams!"

The two leapt at each other, but were stopped when they were suddenly levitated in the air away from each other.

"Knock it off you too!" Lori ordered, before setting them down. She turned to Lisa. "You done with containing our new friend?"

Lisa nodded. "He's down in the containment cells with the others."

_**"Yeah, whenever we come across a monster, we try our hardest not to destroy them. Lisa uses them for her superhuman research, so we put them in special containment cells."** _

Lori turned to the rest of the group. "Okay, good work out there team. We did alright but just remember what I told you." She looked at Lola." No more showboating for the camera's" She looked at Luan. "Try not to crack lame jokes mid-battle." Finally she turned to Leni. "And don't use our real names when we're in uniform! _Secret identities_ remember?

Leni's face fell. "Sorry, Control Freak."

Lori's eye twitched. "I meant when we're in the field and DON"T CALL ME THAT! I literally keep telling you to call me Telekemistress!

Lynn snorted. "Yeah, we'll totally do that."

Lori groaned. "Whatever, let's just get changed and head home."

Before they could walk away, Lincoln stood in front of them. "Wait, I have talk to you guys."

Lori sighed. "Fine, what is it."

Lincoln withdrew a tablet from behind his back and began to examine the information on the screen. "Today's mission was a success, but that was mostly down to luck. You guys were in major trouble and saved mostly by Lola's help."

"HA!" Lola exclaimed.

"And your point is?" Lori asked.

"My point is things might have gone a lot smoother if you had some extra help" He explained. "Some kind of backup plan formulated in case of emergencies. A kind of secret weapon that-."

"Lincoln for the millionth time, you can't come with us into the field!"

That broke him out of his speech. "Aw come on. Why not?"

"Because you'd end up getting killed in literally two second!" Realizing she had been a bit harsh, Lori's expression softened. "Look, I know you wanna get out there, but you're not really built for the whole superhero thing."

"But if I was in the field I could get a better view of the situation. It could help with coming up with plans." While Lincoln's power could be used across computers, it was far more effective when used against a face to face problem.

Lynn shook her head. "No way bro, it's too dangerous. You have no offensive powers, no real combat ability, you can barely run for a few minutes without getting winded,"

Lincoln looked down dejectedly. "But I want to help." He muttered.

"You do just not in a fighting kind of way." Lynn assured him.

That didn't make him feel much better. "Ever since we got these powers, all I've done is be your super powered IT guy! I want to be out their helping people, saving lives, being a hero!

"Your frivolous desires are inconsequential. With your ability and skill set your abilities are more suited to a supporting role, not a physical one." Lisa pointed out

Lincoln sighed. "Fine." With that he walked off to let them go change, though their eyes were locked worriedly on his back.

After changing out of their uniforms, the team walked to a room with a row of 10 tubes of varying size. Each of them stepped into their corresponding tube and waited as they were sucked upward into their family shed.

_**"Yeah, our superhero headquarters is underneath our house. What? Where else would we build it?"** _

The Loud siblings walked into their home and found their parents waiting on the couch.

"Hey kids, how was the mall?" Asked their mother Rita, holding their sister Lily in her arm.

_**"Our parents would flip if they knew practically all their kids were superheroes, so we decided to wait till the right time to tell them. Like around the time Lily goes off to college.** _

Lori pretended to gush. "Oh it was awesome mom. We didn't really buy anything, we kinda just hung out."

Rita smiled. "Well i'm glad to hear you had fun." Suddenly she noticed the gloomy look on Lincoln's face. "What's the matter sweetie, you didn't have a nice time?

Somewhat regaining his composure, he said. "Nothing. You know I'm just not big on hanging out at the mall."

"Well I'm sure you'll feel better. Come on it's time for dinner."

All through dinner, Lincoln's air of melancholy was noticeable. When his parents asked, he simply said he hadn't had a good day. While his sisters knew the cause of his sadness, none of them could say anything without tipping off their parents so they kept their mouths shut.

After dinner, Lincoln was up in his room reading an _Ace Savvy_ comic laying down. He still thought about the argument he had with his sisters earlier. While he knew he helped out, it didn't feel like enough. He had always dreamed of being a superhero and when he and his sisters got their powers it felt like a dream come true. But in the past few months all he had done was sit behind a computer screen and give some good advice. That wasn't being a superhero that was being an assistant. He wanted to go out and be a real hero.

He was interrupted from his train of thought by a knock on his door. He suspected it was one of his sisters and sure enough his sister Luna was standing there when he opened it.

"Hey bro, we need to talk." She said. She pointed to his bed. "You got a minute?"

He nodded. She came in and sat on the end of his bed. Lincoln waited a few minutes for her to speak. Finally she said. "I noticed you've been kinda bummed since earlier."

He let out a sigh. "Yeah, I guess."

"Dude, you know the only reason we don't want you out there is because you could get hurt."

Lincoln was quick to reply. "But Lucy, Lana, Lola, and Lisa are all out in the field and they're all way younger than me!"

"Yeah but they got powers or weapons or whatever that they can use to protect themselves." She retorted. "Lincoln I know you don't think much of what you do, but it's important. You get us info, strategies, whatever we need on the fly. That's just as heroic as what we do."

Lincoln chuckled sarcastically." Sure it is."

Luna tenderly placed her hand on his shoulder. "Being a hero isn't all punching bad guys or fighting monsters. Sometimes it's just doing whatever you can do. Understand?"

"Yes."

Luna smiled." Good." She pulled herself up off his bed. "Well go'night, got a gig tomorrow and I want to get my rest." She shut his door

Lincoln sat there thinking about what she had said. Maybe Luna was right about his role being important.

But it wasn't enough.

Lincoln knew his sisters were trying to protect him, but they wouldn't change his mind. One way or the other he was going to get out there. He just needed a plan.

And if there was one thing he could do, it was make a plan.

* * *

Far away in an abandoned mine outside town was a man wearing a black suit and a head camera. He was Jack specter Ex-member of the Academy of Really Good Ghost Hunters.

Ever since the incident he had been out of a job. No one wanted to see fake ghost hunting on T.V. when there were actual superheroes everyday on the news. But he felt he had found the key to regaining his success.

For the past few weeks, he heard tales of people coming into this mine and hearing mysterious sounds and seeing lights. If he found something ACTUALLY paranormal and was able to broadcast it, he'd be famous again!

He went deeper and deeper into the mine until he tripped over a rock and tumbled down a tunnel.

Wearily standing up, he suddenly saw an incredible sight. A fragment of rock glowing with white light, its surface refracting a rainbow of colors.

He stretched his hand out, but then the rock let out a massive flash of light!

It was horrible. He could feel the skin being burnt off of his flesh. His entire body felt as if he was on fire. His skull felt like it was constricting onto his brain and his eyes burned. Trying his hardest, he opened them to reveal the irises were now blood red and his eyeballs pitch black.

> The sound of his screams could be heard for miles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Setting- At first I thought of them having a stark tower like base but then I realized it be simpler to have it bee under their house. 
> 
> Sisters- I really hope I wrote them better in this story. In Lincoln's Origin I know people were upset with how i portrayed Lincoln's sisters so I hope I did better here.
> 
> Lincoln- What do you think of Lincoln in this story? Is he too needy? Does his desire to be a superhero seem selfish? Please let me know I love getting feedback on my work.


	3. Issue 1-3

On the ride to school the next day, Lincoln tried to come up with a plan. He knew it wouldn't be easy, but he felt if he could somehow contribute more to the team in the field he wouldn't have to be stuck on desk duty for the rest of his life.

Staring out the window of Vanzilla, he thought about the current state of his so-called superhero career. He had to admit that when he and his sisters had first started out this wasn't exactly how he thought things would end up.

* * *

" ** _I bet your wondering how this all started. How did 10 kids become the most powerful superhero team in the world? Well it's actually not that long a story._**

_It was nighttime at the Loud house. All of the Loud children were standing out on the lawn performing their own activities. Lori was texting, Leni was making a new hat, Luna was serenading her family with her guitar, Luan was performing a mime routine of pulling rope, Lynn was just standing there lifting a weight in one hand, Lucy was hiding beneath a large tree, Lana was with the pets, Lola was holding a number of sparklers, Lisa was looking through a telescope while making calculations, Lily was swaddled in blankets, and Lincoln was playing a game on a VR headset. Their parents were in the kitchen looking for marshmallows._

**_"We were all just outside waiting to view a space phenomenon Lisa had seen approaching earth. She said it was a kind of cosmic energy storm that would get close enough to earth to briefly change the color of sky. She managed to talk the us into it by bribing us with s'mores and soda pop._ **

_Suddenly the sky turned a bright red. The ground began to shake and all the kids stared fearfully into the sky. Lincoln flipped up his headset just as everything was bathed in white light before it fell back down over his eyes._

**_"Next thing we know...THAT happened. Like I said before, explosion of energy from space."_ **

_As the light faded, the Loud's were all shown strewn around the yard, scuffed up but mostly unharmed._

_The next morning as he brushed his teeth, Lincoln began to notice bits of glowing green light in various places. Blinking a few times the colors began to solidify into green glowing arrows pointing to different objects._

_As the day went on he began to notice that not only were the images not going away, but his way of thinking had changed as well. He was suddenly able to predict the trajectory of incoming objects, note the weak spots on others, and even able to find the most effective path to get through the people in the halls._

_At home he saw his sisters display signs of powers such as Luans arms falling to the floor like ropes or Lana's pets growing to gigantic size after she pet them._

**_"A few hours after that, we realized we had these crazy powers. I'll tell you right now, my sisters weren't that keen on the idea of being superheroes. Until..."_ **

_In downtown royal woods a number of velocirapter looking creatures were attacking a group of people, including the Loud parents._

**_"Yeah, not much of a choice in the matter. We realized we weren't the only things effected. It effected animals, plants, even other people. So my sisters decided to suit up, saved the day and the rest is history."_ **

* * *

Coming out of his memories, The white haired loud contemplated his life since then. He'd thought that being the teams mission support would only be temporary and eventually he'd manage to actually be part of the team. But it had been months since then and he was still just the teams talking ear piece. Well no more. He'd prove he deserved to be on the team and as the van pulled into the lot of his school, it came to him just how to do so.

Throughout the first few hours of class, Lincoln was completely focused on coming up with the finer points of his plan. He knew that this was the most important operation he had ever come up with and if he was going to put it into action, he would need every step planned downed to the last detail.

As the bell for lunch rang, he walked out of the classroom unfocused until he bumped into a much larger student. Angry, he elbowed Lincoln straight in the face.

"Watch where you're going geek!"

As he held his stinging face, Lincoln realized with horror that two small clear round items had fallen from his eyes. Frantically searching for his contacts, he saw that the halls were beginning to fill up. As students flooded into the hallways, Lincolns unprotected eyes began to transmit information from the people coming out. From the trajectory a student's loogie would take to the optimum method for an acne faced 5th grader to not have a bully wrench his underwear over his head.

The more he saw, the more his vision filled with arrows and his head filled with calculations. Soon his vision was almost nothing but indiscriminate green light and the inside of his brain felt as if it were being continuously spun like a child's Mary-go-round. He didn't know how much more he could take. His head was pounding and he was sure if he didn't do something soon he would definitely pass out from the amount of information he was taking in.

Sweat drenching his forehead, he clamped his eyes shut as hard as he could.

**_"The one downside to having a super analyzing brain? Too much data at a time."_ **

Shaking like a leaf, Lincoln was shocked when he felt a gentle grip placed on his shoulder.

"Looking for these buddy?"

Lincoln was relieved. Standing in front of him was an African-American boy around his age with glasses and large black hair wearing a green and blue stripped shirt. Held out in his hands were Lincoln's contacts.

Lincoln grabbed his contacts from him and popped them back into his eyes. Immediately the arrows vanished and his brain stopped making calculations.

He let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks Clyde, your a lifesaver."

**_"That's Clyde McBride. Clyde has been my best friend since forever, and he's the one person I knew I could trust with the whole superhero thing."_ **

Clyde smiled. "No problem. So whats going on. Why were you so distracted?" Due to his powers and usual concentration, Lincoln didn't often bump into people.

As they walked to the lunchroom, Lincoln explained every detail of his plan to him.

Arriving at their table, Clyde gave Lincoln a worried Look. "Are you sure that's such a good idea Lincoln? That plan sounds kinda dangerous."

Lincoln shook his head. "I have to do this Clyde. It may not be safe but I have to try."

"Maybe if you just talked it out with them. Your sisters might understand the way you feel."

"I've tried talking to them!" Lincoln slammed his fist onto the table, startling the people at nearby tables. Embarrassed, he lowered his voice."Look, I get this might seem extreme, but I'm done just sitting on the sidelines and watching my sisters do everything. I know they just want to keep me safe, but just being the team computer guy isn't enough for me. I know I can do more to help the team and that's what I'm going to do.

Clyde knew their was no talking his friend out of this. "Well just be careful Lincoln. I'd hate for something to happen to you."

"Relax buddy. I know what I'm doing."

Suddenly from the band on Lincolns wrist came a repetitive beeping noise.

"That's them! I need to go Clyde."

He retreated to a nearby broom closet and pressed a button on the band. A holographic image of Lori in her supersuit appeared.

"Lincoln, we got trouble. A fire broke out downtown. I called the others already and they're on the way. We need you to head for L-force base."

Lincoln innocently smiled. "Sure Lori. On my way." He said. After shutting off video, he did a little dance. This was perfect! While the fire may not have been what he was expecting, it was perfect for his plan.

He peeked out into the halls, making sure they were empty, before hurrying over to his locker, inputting the combination and climbing inside.

The inside of his locker, while appearing ordinary, actually had an interesting purpose. After gaining their powers and becoming superheroes, Each Loud had their school locker modified to double as a pneumatic elevator connected to their secret base, similar to the one inside their shed. Using them they could slip away without anyone realizing.

Lincoln hit a button inside and the elevator took him through a few miles of high speed twists and turns underground before depositing him into L-force Base. Seeing that his sisters gear was already gone, he smiled deviously. Instead of heading to the main room, he headed for the set of tunnels that led up to the house.

Time to go to work.

* * *

In downtown Royal woods, a fire was blazing out of control in an large apartment building. Multiple fire trucks were on the scene spraying the blaze, policemen were keeping people away from the fire and the L-Force was on the scene. Control freak was levitating people out of windows, Princess was grabbing people from off the roof, Athlete was getting people from the lower floors, the April fool was stretched into a slide to evacuate the weak or sick and Tailor used a net she had woven to grab those willing to jump from windows.

The rest of the team were focused on putting out the flames. Housepet had enlarged her frog and had it swallow water from the firehoses and then spit it out in jets, Rocker was focusing her sonic screams to blow the flames out, Night had formed her shadow constructs into the shape of a bird that was flapping its wings at the flame,and Brainy had formed her nano-tech into a water shooting device she connected to a fire hydrant.

"Is everyone out?" Control Freak asked Athlete, who was covered in ash and had a large man clinging to her back.

"Not yet. This place isn't exactly tiny and even with all of us, we're barely making a dent in this fire."

Freak grimaced. This was definitely bad. While they manage to get most of the people from the higher and lower floors, their were still some trapped inside they hadn't managed to get to. If they didn't hurry a lot of people would be in danger. Without taking her eye off the person she was currently levitating, she pressed a finger against the communicator in her ear.

"Link where are you? Things are literally getting out hand here! We could use a plan!" Receiving no reply, she groaned and then switched channels to speak with the rest of the team. "Do any of you guys know where Link is?"

"Nope."

"Nu-uh"

"Sorry dude, no idea."

"You did remember to call him right?" Asked Athlete.

"Of course I did." Freak angrily retorted." I told him what was going on, Left him the coordinates. He should be at base."

"Well until our male sibling establishes contact, we'll simply have to focus on putting an end to this incendiary issue." Brainy said.

Control Freak Huffed. "Okay, Everyone stay focused on your task and try to pick up the pace! We need to get this under control!"

Everyone gave their affirmation and returned to performing their objectives with more haste. Even though they were giving it their everything, they were slightly worried they might not be able to pull this off.

A red and blue blur suddenly ran past Control freak. Upon getting a closer look, she was shocked at what it was, her jaw dropped and she nearly lost concentration on the person she was levitating out.

It was Lincoln.

He was dressed in a red suit, domino mask, blue cape and what appeared to be a pair of underwear around his waist. Needless to say the entire team was surprised to see him there.

"Link? What are you doing here?" Control freak demanded, struggling to keep her concentration on the rescue.

"I'm here to help save the day!" Link declared.

"Are you nuts?!" Princess asked.

"Linky its too dangerous!" Tailor shouted.

Link ignored them and charged headfirst into the burning building.

"LINCOLN!"

* * *

The inside of the building was engulfed in a cloud of thick dark smoke. The air was acrid and harsh, pushing most of the air from Links lungs. He pulled his cape up to his face and wrapped it around his mouth to try and filter out the smoke.

He ran up the stairs and began to shout out for people. "HELLO! IS ANYONE HERE?" He shouted.

"Help!" Hearing a feeble cry, he followed it to a door. Seeing it was weakened by the fire, he kicked it down and walked into the apartment to find a little girl, no more than about 6, huddled on the ground in the fetal position crying. Lincoln walked over to her and calmly pulled her up.

"Hey there, it's okay. It's alright I'm here to help." While it wasn't the same thing, Link had a lot of practice with calming people down, often helping his younger (Or in Leni's case older) sisters with nightmares and scary situations.

The little girl sniffled."M-my-my mommy j-j-jumped out of the window and got caught by the superladies, b-b-but I was too scared and ran away." She cried.

Lincoln smiled as much as he could in a cloud of smoke. "Don't worry alright. Everythings going to be okay." He tenderly picked her up and took her out into the hall where he ran into Athlete.

"Link, you better have a dang good reason for-" She noticed the little girl he was carrying. "Who the heck is this?"

"She got lost in the fire. She needs to get out of here." He held her out to Athlete. " You gotta take her."

"Oh, i'm taking her and you too!" She grabbed his arm. "Link you're getting out of here."

" 'Lete I cant. There might be more people stuck here. My power can help me find them and get them out." He gave her a pleading Look. "I _Have_ to do this. Please"

Athelete gave him a long look before sighing, taking the girl, and saying. "Make sure to keep that cape around your face. It'll block the smoke." She turned to head towards the entrance, but turned back to look at him and say. "Be Careful Bro" Before running out with the girl in her arms.

He proceeded to run up the floors searching for people in each room. He found them under tables, crying in stairwells, huddled in cabinets, and even found one person trying to hide in their full bathtub. After hitting the top floor he had found over 15 people of varying ages ranging from 5-43.

Seeing the fire had spread, he scrambled to find a way out. The air was nearly pitch black with smoke and it took everyones strength to take a single breath. Lincoln's power was strong but with the way the air was smogged it wasn't working and both the top and bottom stairs had collapsed.

The building let out a loud _Crreeaakk_ as the ground started to rumble and dust and metal fell from above. To everyone's horror, they realized the building was about to collapse. The group huddled together and held each other, fearing for their lives. All Link could do was shut his eyes and hope for a miracle.

He felt the ground crumble bemeath them all and was terrified at the feeling of freefall as they plummeted to the ground, waiting to become pancake-like smears on the ground.

He simply fell experiencing the horrible feeling of falling and...Floating?

Lincoln realized that at some point his body had stopped falling and just felt completely weightless. Opening his eyes, he saw he and the group of people he saved were now floating towards a large open window where Control Freak was levitating in the air, her hand outstretched.

Lincoln and the group were placed carefully on the ground. Suddenly, they heard a crumbling sound. Turning around Lincoln saw the building he was previously in fall into a pile of rubble to the ground.

He was still trying to process everything going on. He was completely covered in soot and sweat. His sisters were out in front of the press explaining what just occured. Then his eyes turned to all the people pulled from the building. They were staring at the assortment of rocks and metal that was once their home.

They had lost everything. Their homes, their possesions, all they had left were the clothes on their backs.

And it was because of him.

* * *

"What were you thinking?!"

After answering questions and helping clear the rubble, The team returned to L-Force base. Lincoln was currently sitting on the couch, Lori chewing him out.

"Not only did you endanger your life but you put a major rescue operation in danger. Did you even think we literally might have needed you here?"

Lincoln didn't say a word. Since they had gotten back, all he had done was stare at his feet with a blank expression.

"No, you didn't. Because you were so focused on playing "Hero" you didn't bother thinking of anything else." Lori pinched her forehead before continuing. "This isn't one of your lame _Ace Savvy_ Comics. You could've gotten yourself or others killed out there. And _you!"_ She pointed angrily towards Lynn." Why didn't you stop him?"

"Because he had it under control." Lynn said defiantly. "Yeah Linc might've gotten stuck, but considering it was his first time out in the field he did an OK job."

"OK, ain't good enough Lynn" Luna interjected. " If Lor hadn't saved him the little dude could have been in bad shape."

"So could I or Leni, or Lana. We could all have gotten hurt in that fire, but we went anyway. That's the whole point. We put our lives on the line for others." Lynn argued.

"And our brother did have some sucess." Lisa pointed out. "He helped save a good 5% of people we might've missed. It may sound small, but he helped give those people a chance to-."

"Plummet to their death?" Asked Lola. "That's what would have happened if Lori hadn't been there."

"Link did his best."

"He was completely reckless!

"I think he did alright."

"Linky could have gotten hurt."

Lincoln's sisters soon all started arguing, some for the bravery in his actions, some for the foolishness of his plan. He just sat there, once again thinking of the people staring at the burnt husk that they had once lived in.

"Guys, it's Ok."

Turning to their brother, the team was immediatly disturbed by the look on his face. He wasn't happy, mad, or even, proud. He just looked depressed.

"I promise I won't ever do something like this again." He said, his voice in a montone rivaling Lucy's but tinged in sadness. " I shouldn't have thought I could help."

The sisters started to get worried. "Lincoln..." Lori started.

"No, It's okay." Lincoln sniffled, tears beginning to drip from his eyes. "If I hadn't been there, you could've saved the building and those people wouldn't have lost their homes."

"That's not true!" Lynn said.

But Lincoln ignored her. All he could think of were the people who lost everything just because he had to put on tights and try to to feel important.

He reached for the tie of his cape on his neck and unknotted it. He then removed each part of his costume and removed them until he was in nothing but the underwear he wore under the suit.

He bundled the suit up, threw it into a wastebin by the couch and walked to the lockers to change into his regular clothes, leaving his sisters with looks of complete despair.

Who was he kidding. He was no superhero.

* * *

In a dimly lit room, the only light source was a flickering fuzzy T.V. screen displaying the L-Force interview after stopping the fire. A pitch black shadowy fist smashed into it shattering the screen. Rattling deep breaths were heard as a shadowed figure with burning red eyes focused on the heroes on screen.

Once again they were front page news.

Well, it was about time someone changed that


	4. Issue 1-4

Lincoln was completely inconsolable. For the next few days all he did was go to school, come home, and then go up to his room to mope. The white haired Loud was still traumatized by the mission he had failed in.

His sisters had each tried to help. The ones who had thought he had done well were telling him he had done alright for his first time out in the field, but the praise fell on deaf ears. Lincoln felt he would always see his first mission as a complete failure. As for the sisters that had been against him going out, all of them except Lori told him they weren't upset and they were just glad that he had managed to come back in one piece. Lori, it seemed, was indifferent to his plight. Whenever she saw him moping she would just roll her eyes and move to another room.

Thankfully for the team there wasn't a lot of action at the moment to distract them. Since the fire, things had been surprisingly quiet in Royal Woods. While they stayed vigilant for danger, they used the extra time this provided as a chance to try and make their brother feel better.

The team, minus Lincoln, were all hanging out at home, their parents away at work. They were all in the living room, talking, playing, and watching T.V. , when their brother came slowly down the steps.

"Hey bro, how are you doing?" Asked Luna tentatively. Her brother gave a shrug and went into the kitchen before returning with a juice box and walking back upstairs.

" Man the little dudes still pretty bummed."Luna said.

Lori scoffed." Oh, just let the little baby mope." All her sisters gasped at her statement.

"Lori how can you say that? Linky is really hurting inside." Said Leni.

"Yeah, why are you still so angry at him?" Lynn demanded

"And what am I supposed to do? Coddle him and tell him he did a good job when he literally sucked at it? Tell him everything is fine since he didn't die? Look, i'm not just mad he went on a mission when we needed him. I'm mad he's still sulking. I know that mission was hard on him and i'm not gonna needlessly rank on him, but he's been like this for nearly a week, and frankly it's pathetic. It's one thing to screw up, but if he's seriously gonna let one screw up make him quite, then that's just sad."

"That's harsh sis." Said Luna.

"It's the truth. Lincoln wanted to be a super hero. He needs to realize that it can't all be win,win,win all the time. I know it sounds rough, but he has to manage to get over this on his own. Otherwise he really isn't cut out to be any kind of hero. "

The rest of the sisters looked as if they were about to pounce on her, when suddenly the bands on their wrist lit up and began beeping. They all knew this could only mean one thing: Trouble.

They sprang into action, running towards the shed, and set themselves into their tubes down to their lair. Once in the base, they pulled on their suits, before realizing they still had one problem.

"Guys, what about Lincoln?" Asked Lana.

"What about him? He's still upset. Just let him cry it out and we'll just have to handle this without him." Said Lori

"We shouldn't go without alerting him." Warned Lisa. "We may need his tactical knowledge."

Luna gave Lori a pleading look." Lori _please_. We need him."

Lori stared at her for a few minutes, then sighed and said. "I'll give him a call before we get their."

* * *

Lincoln laid sadly in his bed, still in turmoil from what he'd done. All he had thought about was his wish to be a superhero and in the end he had nearly gotten a group of people killed and helped them lose their homes. He hadn't helped people, he'd just gotten in the way and in the end only not been killed by pure luck and his sisters saving him.

From the dresser to his left came the sound of his communicator beeping. It had been going off for about 10 minutes now, but he'd simply ignored it. After his selfish act, he didn't deserve to be a member of the team. In the field or behind a desk. Without looking he threw one of his old shirts at the device. It dropped off the dresser and hit the floor.

_"Lincoln?"_

Surprised, he looked over and realized that the fall had activated the holo-communication device in his communicator. A small hologram recording of Lori was now on his floor. Whatever, he'd just ignore it.

_"Lincoln look, I know you're there. We're going to investigate some weird goings on in an abandoned warehouse at the edge of town and we need you at the console. Don't bail on us."_

Lincoln sighed. Lori's choice of words only served as another reminder to his failure. He couldn't go to his station. He'd just end up messing up again. Another recording came up on his comm.

_"Come on, I know you're busy feeling sorry for yourself, but the team needs you."_

He buried his face into his sheets. He couldn't do it. He couldn't-.

_"OH COME ON."_

Lori's sudden outburst shocked him. He lifted his face and looked at the recorded figure glaring angrily at him, as if it could see him laying there.

 _"So that's it huh? One bad mission and you just give up? That is so not what I expected from you Lincoln. Where's the guy who never gives up? The dude who is constantly coming up with new plans? The guy who always manages to make up for his screw ups? The Man With a Plan who somehow manages to not go nuts from the constant chaos we live in? Cause right now i'm not seeing that guy. I get it, OK? You messed up super badly. But that's part of the whole superhero deal: Messing up and then managing to clean up that mess._ " _She sighed."_ _I know I can't make you come down, but- and if you tell or show this to anyone else I'll deny I said it-we're literally not a team without you. We need you Lincoln._

Then the recording stopped. Lincoln stared in awe at the space for a few moments. His eldest sisters words rang around inside his head.

She was right. He couldn't give up. He had people to help. Starting with his team.

With haste, he ran back to the shed and deposited himself into his tube. Upon arriving down in the base, he ran to his desk.

He immediately tried to contact the team. "Lori...Leni...Luan...Lana...Anyone?!" All he received was radio static. That seriously worried him. Lisa had made those communicators to work from miles away and in almost any condition. He had never lost contact with the team before, and the idea that he couldn't contact his sisters seriously alarmed him. He cycled through different radio frequencies. "Hello. Can any of you hear me?!"

A quick burst of static came into his ears and then he heard Lisa's voice. "Lincoln?"

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Lisa, where are you guys? What's going on?"

Her voice was broken and choppy, but she had a panicked tone.. "Mission...Too dangerous...require your assistance...Lab...Number 5...sending...location." On the screen came a set of GPS coordinates before the line completely shut.

"Lisa,LISA!?" Lincoln was panicking. He had no idea what had happened to his team, but it sounded like they were in real trouble. His mind raced before he thought over everything Lisa had said.

 _Mission too dangerous._ Well that was obvious. His sisters had gone on a mission and were fighting an enemy that was incredibly powerful. While his team was tough, they could still manage to get in over their heads.

 _Require your assistance_. Now that one had him puzzled. What kind of help could he offer from behind his desk? He could barely talk to the team, let alone help them in any way even with their location. Maybe he had heard her wrong.

 _Lab, Number 5._ He thought he might know what that meant. He got up from his desk and ran into Lisa's lab all the way back to the armory. The armory was arranged as hexagonal metal cubbies, each set to unlock to a specific Louds Thumbprint scan, arranged in order from one to 10. He walked over until he found number 5, a cubbie outlined in orange. He hesitantly pressed his thumb to the scanner, causing the locker to unhinge from the bottom and unlock upward revealing a rectangular metal case. He flipped open the case to reveal four things: An orange and black suit with a mask, a small grey rod with green tech lines, a silver belt with multiple pockets and a large orange L ,and a small black square that looked like a cell phone but with no noticeable buttons.

He wasn't quite sure what to do next, so he reached for the cell phone like device. The minute his fingers brushed against it, it flashed and began displaying a holographic image of Leni and Lisa.

_"Greetings brother."_

_"Hi Linky!"_

_"If you're viewing this message, then the worst has occurred. The team is incapacitated or unavailable and you are the only one left able to assist. I'd always suspected that one day you would either be forced to or asked to come and assist in the field. So I prepared for that eventuality and constructed this suit and equipment for just such an occasion. Please begin by putting on the suit._

For a second, Lincoln just stood there stunned. Lisa had seemed the most sure he wouldn't be useful in field work, yet she had actually made equipment for that very moment. Breaking out of his stupor, he pulled on the suit.

It was incredible. It consisted of an orange bodysuit, black metal tipped boots that went up to almost his knee, a pair of black briefs to go over his waist, a black cape, and for the finishing touch, a bulky black rectangular mask that seemed to resemble a pair of goggles. He placed it to his face and it seemed to stick and conform to the contours of his face. Once in place, a screen in the masks eye part displayed a number of different types of data. He felt around on it and found a button on the side. Pressing it caused the screen to shift the data it showed, from the current temperature, to the structural data of the base, to files of each L-force member.

_"As you can see, this suit is equipped with a number of features to assist you. It's made with my patented micro field technology to protect the wearer from extreme damage that's in all our suits. The mask has an installed HUD or Heads Up Display to show data about the surrounding environment and access information from your terminal."_

_"And I made sure to use a nice orange and black color scheme to really make the suit pop and I added those underpants, because I know how comfortable they make you feel. I got the idea for the design from that costume from your coloring book."_

Lincoln snorted at the Leni holograms words, but he had to admit it was right. The suit clung to him like a second skin and the minute he put it on he could feel a small pulse of energy pass over him from the micro field. Next, he picked up the rod. he squeezed it lightly and it extended out to over his head.

_"The staff is made from a variant of my nanotech, allowing it to alter in length and hold a variety of different features and abilities for both offense and defense. it's also made to connect to the back of your suit."_

He continued to mess with the staff. When he pulled on it with both hands in opposite directions, a miniature electric prod extended out one side. Then he squeezed it twice and a sizable flame grew on one end. He panicked for a moment, still a bit shaky around fire, before he realized it was confined to the end of the staff. He squeezed it again to extinguish it. He accidentally hit the bottom against the ground and a large dome of energy appeared around him. He tapped it lightly with his fist. It felt solid as a brick wall. Having finished with the staff, he held it against the back of his suit as instructed and it clung to it.

Finally he picked up the piece he was most excited about. The belt.

_"The last piece is our customary L-belt. You can take it away Leni."_

_"Okay! Well, I made it orange to go with the suit and added lots of little_ pockets _for Lisa to put stuff in. I also made sure to install one of those little doohickeys too. whats it called again? QRS?_

_"GPS, Leni. It's designed to show our current Location in case we're separated."  
_

_"Oh, right."_

Lincoln was enamored to have this object in his hands. He always loved his sisters belts because they held the team icon and he always saw them as making someone an official member of the team.

And now he had one.

_"Now you're new equipment may be difficult to use and as such I have included a manual in this storage device containing all the information you may need."_

Lincoln rolled his eyes. "Sorry Lisa, I don't exactly have time to read the manual right now."

_"I'm going to assume you just made a smart remark at my expense and feel I must remind you this a pre-recorded message."_

Lincoln gaped.

_"I'm afraid we must be sighing off now. Good luck brother."_

_"Bye Linky!"_

The hologram cut off.

Lincoln looked at himself in his suit. He wasn't sure what to do next. His sisters were definitely in trouble and he knew there wasn't exactly another group of sibling superheroes he could call for help.

But part of him remembered the last time he had gone out and how many people had almost gotten hurt. Whatever was happening now was so bad, his _sisters_ were in trouble and they were pretty tough. If they couldn't stop whatever was going on what chance did he have? Just because he had gear, some powers, and a costume didn't mean he could help.

Then he thought about the panic in Lisa's voice when she called and how she asked for him to help. If they were seriously in that much trouble...

There was no doubt in his mind.

He planted his hands on his hips. "I'm gonna go save my sisters." He said coolly, his eyes narrowing in determination. "But first, I'm gonna need to get a ride."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well here we are. The next chapter will be the final one for this specific issue. Then I can move on to ISSUE #2! I hope you all enjoyed this and here are those superflous authors notes.
> 
> Lori-Sorry if Lori seemed kinda rough, but I felt like in this AU that's how she'd react: Harsh but truthful. to her, Lincoln needed to realize that being a superhero wasn't all fun and games, but I think she also didn't want him to just give up his ambitions just from one loss, and I really hope you all liked her recorded speech.
> 
> Lincoln's suit and gear-I was totally swept up in the idea that Lincoln would have a swiss army tool weapon that had a ton of features he didn't realize and I feel like this staff is perfect for him. It's based on Rook's Proto-tool from Ben 10 Omniverse. Of course he can just read the manual, you know evenutally :) I also loved the idea of him having a heads up display that gave him more information than just what he could get from his powers. That utility belt has some stuff too, but we'll get to that later.
> 
> Leni and Lisa- I absolutely love the idea, both for this and Lincoln's orign verse, that Leni ends up being a kind of dimwitted Lab assistant to Lisa. Leni has her own area of expertise and could probably help with some of the similar tasks Lisa might have, and having Leni around might actually make Lisa a bit nicer. I've already read a pokemon AU story where that happened, made by weavillian, so I think it could really work here too.


	5. Issue 1-5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have any questions about this or my other stories, visit my tumblr at https://l-egionaire.tumblr.com

Lincoln's cab arrived at the part of town where the coordinates led to. He dug around in the pockets of his belt and withdrew 20 bucks to give to the cabbie.

"Thanks for the ride."

Looking around where he was, he started getting worried. It was a dark part of town covered in decrepit old warehouses. Almost every building had was worn out with paint peeling off of them. By the time he had arrived it had gotten dark out, so every corner looked as if it hid something sinister behind it. This place seemed to scream "creepy evil abandoned warehouses."

From a small distance away there was the sound of crashing and a scream of pain. Lincoln recognized the voice as Lola. He ran through the place trying to find the source of the sounds.

"Guys?! Guys, where are you?" He screamed, whipping his head around for any sign of his sisters. Finally he located the source of a the sounds, a large rusting warehouse. He ran inside and what he saw made his blood run cold.

Each of his sisters were on the ground, covered in bruises and not moving. The readout from his mask determined that they were still alive but unconscious. He rushed to Lori, who was closest, and tugged on her arm. "Lori? Are you okay? Come on, get up."

Her eyes opening weakly, Lori looked up at him. "Lincoln?...You...need...to run."

Now he was confused. "Run from what?" He asked. Then he felt a chill go down his spine and the dislay on his mask began to flicker and malfunction. Before he could think more about this, he was hit hard in the back from behind.

He went flying through the air and smacked face first into a wall. He slid down the wall and then pulled himself up from the ground to look for what hit him, but once again all he saw was his sisters. What had hit him? Then he felt that cold feeling go down his spine again. A demonic voice came from behind him.

**"You're not too bright huh kid? Then again, you can't be if you actually came here."**

Frightened, he turned around but found no one there. He walked backwards, keeping his eyes locked on the space where the voice came from, before colliding with something solid.

He jumped back and saw what he had bumped into was a person. He seemed familiar with short black hair, and a black jumpsuit with a hat with a camera. But there were a few things off about him. For one, his hair was wavy and not in the sense that that it was long but rather the ends of his hair moved like tentacles underwater. Then, there was his eyes which were red. Not red irises, but blood red orbs surrounded by pitch black sclera. Plus, there was the fact that his entire body seemed to radiate cold like a freezer.

He looked at Link with a dark smirk on his face. "And just who are you supposed to be?" He asked with a mocking tone.

Link tried not to let him see the way his hands shook as he withdrew his staff. Despite himself, his teeth started chattering. "I-I-I-i'm l-l-l-Link."

The man chuckled. "Well, l-l-Link, I hope you didn't come to try and stop the show."

Lincoln frowned. "W-what show?"

The man pointed to the camera on the top of his head. "Why, the greatest show on earth! The destruction of the L-Force of course." He gestured to the defeated superheroines.

That got Lincoln over his fear. "You did this?" He asked angrily.

"But of course! After all they took the spotlight from me, so now they'll be the reason I get it back."

"Took the spotlight...?" Then Link realized where he had seen this person. "I know you! You're Hunter Specter's twin brother Jack."

Jack scowled. "Don't you dare mention my brother to me. He kicked me out of the Academy simply because I broke one of his idiotic rules."

"It was all over the news. You faked a haunting in Connecticut." Link recalled. "Hunter found out-."

" **And he fired me in disgrace!"** His voice once took on the demonic tone Link had heard earlier. He cleared his throat and then his voice returned to normal. "I was banished from the Academy of Really Good Ghost Hunters and declared a fraud. I had to scrape by on leftovers,until I made my own ghost show. Specters Spooky Sites, or SSS. I clawed my way to the top of the charts and managed to get back everything my brother took from me, but then that insane event happened and my ratings plummeted. After all, why watch fake ghosts when there were real life freaks everyday on the news?!"

Link's blood boiled. "My sisters aren't freaks!" He yelled.

Jack looked at him in surprise. "Your sisters? Interesting. My plan was to humiliate the L-force and have everyone see how I crushed them, but I imagine it will definitely boost my ratings to defeat the whole team!"

Link scoffed at his declaration. "Yeah right Specter, I'm not afraid of some hack like you."

A wicked grin spread on Specter's face. "Specter. It's funny, that names never felt more appropriate than now. Before I needed to FAKE hauntings to gain my fame. Now I AM ONE!" He clenched his hands and began shaking as his body began to change.

His skin seemed to suck up all the darkness around him becoming the same color as the night sky. His fingers grew into sharp black claws. The cap on his head tore open and his hair grew to be a set of tentacles that went halfway down his body. The shoes on his feet split open revealing his feet to be black and enlonging into talons. His spine extended until he was almost halfway up the wall. He looked down at the boy with burning red eyes.

**"Are you afraid of me now?"**

The first thought that came to Link's mind was that he was gonna need a new pair of underwear after this mission.

Without thinking, he tried to swing his staff through Spectre and it wen right through his shadowy form. It felt like he was hitting the air.

Specter laughed at his pitiful attack. **"Don't you know anything? You can't hit a ghost!"** He pulled back his shadowy fist and it tripled in sized. He smacked Lincoln across the room, before vanishing and reappearing at the place he would land and hitting him again. This continued for a good few seconds, with Lincoln being tossed around like a ball before Specter finally let him tumble to the ground.

Unbeknownst to either of them the rest of the L-force began to stir.

"Uggghhhh." Athlete pulled herself up and saw the same villain they'ed been fighting now beating her brother around the room. "Lincoln?"

Specter rose overtop of Link, his fist now the size of a truck and positioned directly over the kids head. He laughed at the now bruised and battered hero. **"I thought you came here to save them. Now who's gonna save you?"**

Lincoln felt ashamed. It had happened again, only this time his sisters weren't gonna save his butt.

Just as Specter tried to bring his fist down on him, he was hit with a blast of energy. He screamed in pain and vanished into the floor.

Looking over, Link saw his team, all hurt but now standing on their feet with anger blazing in their eyes. Lola's hand was pointed at the spot Specter had resided in, and glowed with energy. "Stay away from my brother."

"Guys!" Link ran to give his sisters a group hug. After he let go he said. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"It's all thanks to you dude." Said Rocker.

He looked at her in confusion. "Thanks to me?"

"Yeah, you kept that spooky dude occupied while we all got ourselves together. If you hadn't gotten here when you did, we'd all be riding that stairway to Heaven right about now." She explained. She patted his shoulder. "Like I said, you did what you could."

Link smiled. "Thanks."

Dark evil laughter rang from every corner of the warehouse. Spectre's shadowy face appeared on the walls. The team fell into a circular formation with each of their backs to each other and Link in the center. **"Aww, what a touching moment. Now you can all be destroyed together!"**

"What is this creeps problem?" Control Freak asked.

"He's jealous." Link said. "Specters mad that the teams been hogging all the attention from the media and now he wants to kill us because we took all the ratings from his show."

Athlete growled, before getting a confused look on her face and turning to look at her brother. "Specter?"

Link shrugged. "Well yeah. It's the guys last name. Plus it does kinda fit, you know the whole ghost powers thing and all."

"While I wouldn't quite call our adversary a "ghost" considering he's quite clearly still alive, though clearly in an altered form, I do feel that moniker is appropriate." Brainy said quickly.

Housepet groaned. "Whatever, are we gonna take this guy down or what?"

Control Freak clenched her fists. "Let's go."

Specter peeled himself off the walls into his physical form. He was now a floating torso with a black spectral tail. **"Gladly."**

The team charged at the spooky villain.

Athlete grabbed a large hunk of metal from the ground and hucked it at him, but like Link's staff it sank through his shadowy form. Control freak levitated two larger pieces and slammed them on both sides of spectre attempting to crush him, but he phased through them. He grabbed both of them with his shadow tendrils and threw them back. Rocker attempted to blast him with a sonic scream, moving them to follow after him, but he dodged out of the way of each, before ramming her into a window. Fool inflated her fist and recoiled it into her spring like arm before propelling it at him, but he dodged out of the way, grabbed her arm and spun her around before tossing her into a wall. He then dodged out of the way of housepet's frog Hopps's tongue. One of his shadow tentacle's wrapped around the tongue and pulled Hopps and Pet towards him, then punched the frog in the gut, knocking both of them back. Princess went to attack him, but he phased through the ground. She looked around trying to find him, before he flew out of the ground and punched her square in the face.

Lincoln observed the carnage. The team was getting slaughtered. He turned to Brainy and Tailor. "Why are you guys just standing here?" He asked in a panic

"This villain's apparition like powers interfere with my nanotech." Brainy said with a concerned look on her face. "There is very little I can do in this situation."

He turned to tailor. "What about you?"

She frowned. "Were we supposed to go?"

He sighed. He supposed it wouldn't have mattered. None of them seemed to be able to lay a hand on this guy. But he knew he had to do something. He dug around in his utility belt and withdrew what looked to be metal orbs the size of baseballs. He picked up one, calculated the trajectory, and threw it at Specter, who was currently using Fool's body to beat her head back and forth like a paddle ball while the rest of his team where trapped in his tentacles. He saw the orb coming, laughed and moved to the side to avoid it. **"Is that really the best you could do?"** He asked mockingly.

Then, the orb exploded creating a bright flash of light. Specter screamed in pain when hit by the light and immediately vanished, causing the team to fall to the ground. The rest of the team ran to their fallen comrades.

Control Freak woozily rose to her feet. "What just happened?" She asked groggily.

Link shrugged. "I don't know."

Brainy looked at him, shocked. "Obviously you threw a flash grenade at him and it dissipated his physical form."

Link was ecstatic. "I have flash grenades in here?!" He asked excitedly, staring at his belt.

Brainy rolled her eyes. "Of course, you did remember to read the manual for your new equipment right?"

"No one reads the manual!"

Brainy sighed. "Link, your equipment is all highly experimental and untested, you should've read up properly on how to use-." Suddenly specter rose out of the floor and flew at them. Link slammed his staff against the ground conjuring up his shield. When Specter hit it, he began to hiss steam and screamed again. "I think I've gotten the hang of it." Link said.

He began to think about what had happened. Specter had been weakened twice now by light attacks. But he had been able to dodge Lola's blasts and he didn't think he'd fall for the flash grenades again.

He looked around and began to take in all kinds of data. The dimensions of the warehouse, the number of flash grenades he had left, where specter kept popping up. Then it came to him.

He knew how to beat him.

"I've got a plan." He shouted to his team. "Princess stay focused on attacking Spectre, but don't go full blast. 'Lete, Freak, I'm gonna need you over here. Night, Rocker you're powers have some effect on him so help princes. Fool, Tailer, pet, you guys stay on point and cover the exits."

"Hey twerp, I give the orders around here." Freak said. Then she called to the rest of the team. "Well what are you waiting for? Do what he said already."

Everyone moved into their positions, just as Spectre phased back up from the ground. Before he could move, Princess sent a spray of energy blasts at him forcing him to fly to the right, but then rocker came at him from the right, screeching out sonic burst forcing him to attempt to flee downward. Unfortunately, Night caused shadow tendrils of her own to appear from the ground keeping him in the air, attempting to avoid all the attacks. Meanwhile Link had given half his grenades to Control freak and Half to Athlete, who also held his staff like a baseball bat and was throwing her grenades in the air.

"Tell us when bro." Athlete said.

Link focused on Spectre who was becoming boxed in by the continuous attacks from different sides. Just a bit closer...

Spectre avoided another group of blast from Princess, before ducking into a corner of the ceiling to avoid Rockers soundwave.

"NOW!"

Both Freak and Athlete tossed their grenades at Specter, Freak hurling hers with her powers and Athlete hitting hers like baseballs with Link's staff. All of them hit Specter, creating a huge light wave and causing him to scream and writhe in agony.

"PRINCESS, HIT IT!"

Princess gathered all her power and focused it into a single blast at Specter. The combined energy of her blasts and the grenade flashes converged into a single blinding light. Specter's shadowy skin began to peel off him and soon the light completely encompassed him, the only sound being his screams.

When the light faded, the team saw Specters human form laying on the ground completely comatose.

Despite their wounds and aching bones, the entire team was smiling.

"Mission accomplished." Said Link.

* * *

The next morning the team was in the living room watching T.V.

_..."In other news, disgraced ghost hunter and twin to the illustrious Hunter Specter, Jack Specter was arrested yesterday night. Video footage submitted by the L-force show the aptly named "Specter" attacking the superhero team. The team plans to press charges and in the meantime, Specter is being held in specialized police custody."_

"I guess Specter got his wish after all. He'll probably be on the news for a while." Said Lincoln.

"Especially since he tried to off a bunch of kid superheroes." Lana pointed out.

"Well hopefully we won't see that freakshow again for a long time." Lori said. Then she turned to Lincoln. "Look, Lincoln I'm really sorry. You were right, you actually did manage to contribute to the team in the field."

Lincoln shook his head. "No, you guys did all the real work. All I did was some fancy math in my head."

"That "Fancy Math" saved our lives." Lisa pointed out. "Trust me Lincoln, you did an impressive job. You should never underestimate the power of the mind."

"Thank's Lisa, but I think you guys were right. I have a place on the team and it's too important to give up."

All of the sisters looked at each other. "Actually..." Lori began. Suddenly their communicators beeped. Lori checked hers and said " There's some kind of creature tearing up downtown. Team, lets move out."

The team rushed to the shed and got into their tubes. When they hit the bottom, Lincoln moved to head to the his desk when Lynn blocked his path.

"What are you doing?" He demanded.

"Lori said "Team". That means you too."

"What?"

Lynn pushed him to the teams storage area and he saw a sixth capsule with a mannequin wearing his suit. He gaped at the sight.

"I installed it last night and hung your costume on it."

Lincoln turned to look at them. "But I thought you didn't want me out in the field?"

"That was before you showed you wouldn't get killed in two seconds." Lori said slyly.

"But what about mission control?" He asked.

"You can still perform that function out in the action. Your mask has all the data from your console." Lisa pointed out.

"But, what about-."

"Link shut up. Your part of the team now doofus enjoy it." Lola said.

He couldn't believe it. This felt like a dream. not that long ago he would've begged his sisters to be out there with them and now they were inviting him. He pulled them into a group hug. "Thanks guys."

They stayed like that for a few minutes before Lori said. "Okay enough with the mush. We got a mission."

Lincoln smiled. Yeah they did.

* * *

Throughout the streets of royal woods, large plant vines spread out, entangling cars and grabbing people. In the center of the vines was a monstrous giant Venus flytrap. People were fleeing in panic from the giant flora. The flytrap raised a car with a family inside to its lips

**"Welcome to Royal Woods Michigan. Weirdness capital of the USA. We've got monsters, villains, and your one stop shopping for insanity."**

Before the plant could chomp on it's meal, it was hit by a beam of energy. Flying next to it was Princess, fluffing her hair.

**"Fortunately, we've also got the greatest superhero team to ever live. There's Princess..."**

The mega-plant attempted to attack her with its vines, but they were being tied into a knot by Athlete

**"Athlete...**

The plant tried to bite at the sporty superhero, but it's mouth was held in place by Control Freak's power.

**"Control Freak...**

The plant, being held in place, was then hit by April Fool's massive springy enlarged hand. She made a pun, causing her siblings to groan.

**"April Fool..."**

The plant opened its mout wide and sprayed seeds into the air, hoping to let them fall and grow, but they were slashed to bits by Tailor's thread.

**"Tailor..."**

Next, the plant was bombarded by soundwaves from Rockers guitar.

**"Rocker"**

On the street, people were being lifted out of the way by large shadow ravens Night controlled from behind a dark ally.

**"Night..."**

The plants roots were being cut through by a silver buzzsaw with green tech Lines conjured by brainy.

**"Brainy..."**

Once Brainy had finished she gestured forward and Pet charged at it on Charles's back.

**"Housepet..."**

The plants head fell to the ground, but from its mouth spilled more seeds which grew into smaller flytraps the size of a full grown adult male. one attempted to attack a small child but was hit by the flaming end of Link's staff.

**"And me Link. We are the world's greatest superhero team. We are the L-force."**

The rest of the team joined him on the ground prepared to fight.

"So what now?" Control freak asked.

Link focused on the number of plants, their locations, and the tactics that had succeeded on the first plant.

"I've got a plan."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> authors notes: 
> 
> Specter- I hope the fight seen was okay, I don't have much experience with them and don't really know how to write them. I originally planned for this to be hunter, but then I saw the rest of ARGGH you kidding me and realized he wasn't a fake, so I went with the whole disgraced twin brother angle. For his powers, I mostly got them from Danny phantom, and his superhuman form is based on johnny 13's shadow. (Theirs also another butch Hartman reference in this chapter. Can you find it?") I didn't realize it at first, but as I was writing him I realized he was a lot like Lincoln: overshadowed by his famous sibling and wanting some recognition. I admit I didn't plan on it but now I kinda like it.


	6. Issue 2-Basic Straining

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have any questions about my stories or ideas visit my tumblr at https://l-egionaire.tumblr.com

While leading a group of people away from the battle, Link watched his sisters fight a giant Venus flytrap attacking the city.

**_"I know what you're thinking. Weren't we just here? Wasn't I now a full fledged member of the team and just about to kick butt with my sisters? Well not exactly. See, I am a member of the team, but since I still don't really have powers that could help when fighting monsters and have about a days worth of superhero experience, my sisters told me that for now my job was just to get civilians to safety. Although I can help if its really necessary._ **

He saw Housepet and Charles knock the plant creature to the ground and seeds leak from it's mouth and burrow into the ground. They immediately sprouted into human sized versions of the creature and went after the evacuating Civilians. One attempted to go after a fleeing woman but before it could, he lit his staff ablaze and slammed it into the back of the creatures head.

**_"Like right now."_ **

The rest of the team gathered around him. "So what now?" Control freak asked.

Link Looked at the crowd of plants in front of them. In total there were about two dozen. They seemed focused on them and they needed to keep it that way or they might start to target civilians. Together they could take out a few but in that time some of them might slink away. They needed to finish this now. He looked at the flame on his staff. If only he could somehow make it bigger.

That was it!

He turned to Tailor. "Tailor, wrap them up in as much wool as you can."

Tailor frowned examining the plants . "I don't think wool really goes with their shade of green and the color might-."

"Just do it!" Freak said.

Tailor shot a line of wool from a spool and began to encircle the group of plants in it. Soon the entire hoard of deadly plants was completely encased in a tangled dome of scratchy fabric.

Link tugged the end of the line off Tailor's spool and lit it with the flame from his staff. It spread along the line until it lit the whole covering on fire and smothered the plants inside with flames.

The team watched what was probably the worlds most dangerous sweater go up in flames.

* * *

The L-Force returned to base, where the others where complementing Link on his performance.

Athlete bumped Link in the shoulder. "Not bad for you're first mission."

Rocker nodded. "Yeah dude, you did pretty good back there."

He smiled bashfully. "Thanks."

Control Freak rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, good job. But don't be too proud of yourself. One good job doesn't make you a hero. You still got a long way to go."

Link stood up straighter and attempted to look more serious. "I know. Trust me Lori, i'm ready for this."

She snorted. "We'll see about that. Lincoln, Keep you're suit on. Lynn, Lisa, once you guys are done changing, you can go ahead and give Lincoln his crash course."

The two Loud girls nodded.

"Gotcha."

"Affirmative."

Once everyone else had left out of the room,Lincoln turned to the other two with a curious look on his face. "What does she mean by crash course?"

"Well, you did just start out yesterday and you don't exactly have much when it comes to combat. So I'm gonna be like your trainer and help you get whipped into fighting shape. " Lynn explained.

"And I will be getting you familiarized with you're technology and equipment. Help you get to know the technology at you're disposal." Lisa added.

Lincoln sighed. Well working with Lynn and Lisa on those specific topics sounded pretty bad, but he knew being a superhero wasn't going to happen overnight. "Okay, which one of you will I train with first?"

The two looked at each other and narrowed their eyes.

"There's only one way to decide this." Lynn said.

"Agreed."

They formed their hands into fists,held them out, then shook them three times. On the third shake, they formed their fists into shapes. Lynn's fist stayed balled up and Lisa's was laid out flat.

"Ha! Paper beats rock! Though it's makes no scientific sense." Said Lisa.

Lynn grimaced. "Stupid game anyway." She grumbled as she walked away.

Lisa turned to Lincoln. "Okay Lincoln, come with me."

The two walked over to Lisa's lab. Once inside she stood across from him.

"Well brother, we should get started. My task will be to explain the different purposes and functions of the equipment that you use. First up is you're staff."

"Lisa, I think I've got the staff down." He activated the flame and twirled it around like a Luau dancer. Then he activate the electrical prod and swung the staff around, leaving trails of electricity in its wake. Finally he slammed it on the ground and summoned up the shield. Lisa viewed all of this with an unimpressed look on her face.

"May I see it?" He raised an eyebrow and handed the staff to her. Lisa pressed her finger against the center of the staff a few times, then she slammed the bottom against the ground but instead of making the forcefield, it produced four small supports on the bottom and extended the top a few feet in the air. Lisa pressed the center again and it returned to normal. She twisted it and the top broke off and revealed itself to be attach to a cable coming out of the staff. Lisa pressed the center and it shot forward and then broke into a claw that grabbed a vial on a shelf. She pressed it again and it retracted back to being a staff. She pointed the end of the staff at him and twisted it in opposite directions and a net was ejected out at him.

Even though he'd just been caught in a net by a four-year old, Lincoln had a look of pure glee on his face. "How did you do that?" he asked excitedly.

Lisa held the center of the staff to his face and he saw that there was a small touchscreen on it. "The staff can be programmed with a number of different functions. The three you've seen so far are simply the standard settings. It has over 100 uses and features."

Lincoln managed to pull himself out of the net. "So what else does this thing do? Pop popcorn? Make ice cream? Play music?" He asked jokingly

Lisa tapped the center pad and smooth jazz music began to play out of the staff.

"I'm still working on the other two." She said, not noticing Lincoln's astonished gaze. "All 600 various staff functions can be found in the manual." She pulled out the phone like device he had seen before.

Lincoln's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates."600!?"

"The staff is a very advanced piece of adaptable technology. It has a feature for every such occasion and is quite possibly the most versatile piece of technology on the planet. But it has to be used properly to reach it's maximum potential. That means. _R_ _eading. The. Manual_. Understand?"

Rolling his eyes, he nodded, took the device and pocketed it. "Yeah fine. I'll read it when I get the chance." Most likely when he was too bored to do anything else.

"Very well. Next we should tackle the items in your belt." She reached into one of the pockets and withdrew a small round orb.

"Oh I know, that's a flash grenade right?"

"Not quite. Look a bit closer." He examined it and saw that the orb had a green colored rim. "Each weapon in your arsenal has a specific purpose and is color coded for easy identification. Green is for micro-explosive charges."

He took a step back."Did you say explosive!?" He asked nervously.

Lisa gave him an exasperated look. "Calm yourself brother." She said. "These are specifically made so that they don't go off until thrown. Trust me, they're perfectly safe."

Lincoln wasn't completely sold. Both her lab in the base and the one in the house had a bad habit of exploding quite often.

Seeing his hesitation, Lisa slammed the orb against one of her metal tables. Lincoln flinched and covered his face, but there was no explosion. Lisa held the orb out to him. "See? No explosion."

He cautiously took the ball from her. She walked to a table and picked up a dropper bottle filled with her nanotech. She dropped three drops onto the ground and they formed into three vaguely humanoid figures.

"Please try and hit one of these targets." She said.

Lincoln focused on the target right in front of him, locking his eyes on the path from the ball to the target and chucked it.

The ball seemed to sail forward and then fall to the ground, where it exploded and left a large scorch mark.

Lincoln looked at Lisa with an embarrassed smile. "He-he, sorry."

Lisa merely face-palmed and said. "Try again."

Lincoln threw again, this time managing to hit the target on the arm, causing the ball to burst and take a large chunk out of it.

Lincolns face broke into a smile. "Awesome."

Lisa gestured to the rest of the targets. "Continue."

Lincoln spent the next few minutes chucking explosives at the targets. He managed to land a few more hits on the targets and even managed to get one in a single shot. It was kinda fun blowing things up, though it seemed like he was doing more damage to Lisa's lab then the targets.

Lisa stood next to him silently until he had managed to hit all three targets a few times and then said. "That's enough." She walked to the scorched area of the targets and dispersed them, then she let out another drop and it created three new targets.

She reached into another pocket and withdrew another orb, this time with a blue rim. "Launch this projectile at the target."

Lincoln once again threw the orb, this time managing to hit the target on his first try and instead of exploding, the target was encased in ice.

"Cryo-bombs. Able to freeze most objects hit to near absolute zero temperature." Lisa explained.

"Cool." Then he realized what he'd just said. "Don't tell Luan I just said that."

"I won't." She next withdrew an orb with a yellow rim. "You've already seen the flash grenades, useful for blinding targets. Their is also the matter of your suit itself. It's made of the same special material as all our uniforms so its bulletproof and resistant to high and low temperatures. And of course you have you're cape." She said the last part as if she had just been told to go eat her vegetables.

Lincoln frowned at her. "What's so wrong with a cape?"

"They could be used to strangle you, or blind you, or it could become snagged on something or-."

"Okay! I get it!." He had grown used to her making grim predictions on dangerous things, but this was a bit much.

"I'm simply pointing out the obvious dangers of a needless decoration. Though you shouldn't be concerned as much. The cape on your suit is easily able to pulled of if necessary. " She said. She reached over and yanked the cape off his suit.

"Hey!"

"The cape itself does offer some protection as it's made of the same material as our uniforms."

Lincoln took his cape back. "Is there anything else you need to tell me?"

"No, you seem to have a good grasp of the concept. You should report to the training room for your training with Lynn."

"I don't really have much of a choice do I?" He asked fearfully.

"No, you do not."

* * *

The training area was a circular room with a metal platform in its center. High up above that was a viewing area with a computer terminal used to reshape the room for a different purpose. For now it was a simple circle. Lynn stood to the side munching on a bag of potato chips.

A part of him was nervous. While he knew Lynn wouldn't intentionally hurt him, she had a habit of charging in and even with no powers he was insane afraid of fighting her.

She finished her chips and walked over to him. "Okay bro, I hope you're ready for a workout."

"So what are we gonna be doing?" He asked, shaking. He could only imagine Lynn's definition of training.

"Relax, it won't be that bad." She reassured him. "Right now the objective for today is simple. I'm gonna try and hit you as hard as I can."

His eyes nearly popped out of his head. "What?!"

"I'm gonna try and attack you and you just dodge out of the way anyway you can think of." Lynn elaborated.

That slightly calmed him down, but it did confuse him a bit. "I thought this was supposed to be combat training." Lincoln said.

"I'll teach you some combat stuff later, but for now we gotta focus on what you can learn quick and be used in the field. Besides you're not really built to take a punch, so it'll be good for you to learn how to avoid getting hit instead of hitting something else."

Well that did make sense. But still..." Are you sure this is safe?"

Lynn sighed. "Will you relax. I can control my strength and anyway the whole point is to not get hit. As long as you dodge out the way, you won't get pounded."

Lincoln gulped. "But-" He then ducked out of the way to avoid her attempt to punch him. Her fist lodged itself in the wall above him.

Lincoln pressed his hand to his chest, trying to slow his heartbeat. "Are you NUTS!?" He asked her.

Lynn just nonchalantly pulled her hand from the wall. "Hey, the bad guys aren't gonna yell out when they're gonna hit you."

"Still though-."

He was once again forced to move when she tried to strike downward at him, leaving a small crater.

She looked at him in annoyance. "Quit talking and start moving." She ran towards him.

Not needing to be told twice, Lincoln moved as fast as he could. Each time she struck at him, he ducked, dodged, dived, and in on case gave a kind of feeble half back-flip to avoid the incoming spheres of death Lynn called her fists. While he managed to avoid her, it took everything he had. In on moment, she swung her fist so close to his face, he could almost feel all the power coming off it.

Soon he was tired, drenched in sweat, and barely able to stand whereas Lynn looked as energetic as when they started. She moved to attack him again. He tried to move, but it felt like his feet were being held down by bricks. He could do nothing but stand there as his face got slammed by Lynn's fist.

Laying on the ground with his face feeling tenderized, Lincoln weakly looked up and tried to figure out which of the three Lynn's he was seeing he should focus on. They soon folded into the one in the center who stood there with a smile.

"Not bad for you're first try." She hefted him over her shoulder. "Come on lets get you all patched up."

That was about the moment he blacked out.

* * *

For the next few days, Lincoln kept practicing with his gear and equipment as well as working on his combat training.

His staff work was getting better. He had learned how to set different functions. He worked with Lisa to understand each function and how they could be used in actual combat. He hadn't read the manual yet,( When he was alone he just tested the different features out) but so far Lisa seemed fooled.

His actual fighting still needed work though. He had started training to use his staff as a weapon and while he'd gotten OK with it, there were times were the staff seemed to have a mind of it's own, moving in the opposite direction he wanted it to and seeming heavier on one end. When he told Lisa, she assured him it was just his inexperience with the weapon.

His combat training was the same. He was getting better at dodging Lynn's attacks, but he kept getting to points where it felt like his feet refused to move and she always ended each session by socking him in the face. His jaw was beginning to ache so bad he could barely eat.

He had gotten used to his training and even begun to enjoy it, minus the part where he got hit in the face, but the one thing that seemed to bug him was Lori. She was constantly popping in on his training sessions seemingly waiting for him to mess up. Whenever he failed with his gear or got hit in the face by Lynn she would stand there and laugh meanly at him. It was awful.

One afternoon Lincoln was lying on the ground after Lynn accidentally ended up hitting him in the groin. Lynn had gone to fetch him an ice pack saying. "You should've worn a cup." While Lori stood over him laughing. With as much strength as he could muster, Lincoln looked up her and asked. "What's so funny?"

She smirked down at him. "You've been at this for days and still getting you're butt kicked. Don't you think now might be a good time to throw in the towel?"

Hearing that gave him the strength to get up. "No! It's only been a few days. I'll get it."

"Don't kid yourself Lincoln. Everyday you try and then end up literally failing. Wouldn't it be better to go back to your station then screwing up with your gadgets and getting stomped by Lynn?"She asked.

Lincoln glared at her defiantly. "I am NOT going back to my station! I thought I was part of the team now."

She held up her hands defensively. "Nobodies saying you aren't. All I'm saying is if you can't manage to keep up-."

"I can too keep up!" He screamed. The two were broken from their conversation by the sound of an alert on their communicators. Lincoln grinned triumphantly. "And it looks like I'll get the chance to prove it! Lets go!"

"We need to wait for the rest of the team genius." She snarked.

"It says it's just a traffic accident. We can handle that."

The L-force didn't usually operate with the whole team. While for the past two days the disasters required everyone, most day to day crime wasn't that big and could usually be handled by just a few members of the team.

She shrugged. "Fine, but stay close and do exactly as I say."

"Fine."

The two of them headed downtown to the area where the accident occurred, Control Freak flying by telekinesis and using her power to hold Link aloft.

Upon arriving, Freak used her powers to move cars out of the way and Link helped people out of their broken cars and waving off the people on the sidewalk.

While helping an old woman exit her vehicle, Link felt a small tremor pass under him. "Did you feel that?"

Freak got a scared look on her face. "Earthquake." She whispered. She put down the car she was levitating and yelled to the people in the surrounding area. "EARTHQUAKE! Everyone get to a safe location."

People began scrambling into buildings as the ground started shaking more violently. Freak ran over to Link who was getting people inside.

"Link you need to get inside." Freak said.

Link was shocked. "What? No, I have to help you out here."

"You can help by not being in my way!" A car across from them was shaking and Freak looked at it and held it down.

Seeing the way the car stopped moving from her power made him realize something. "It was you." Lincoln whispered.

Freak gave him a confused look. "What?"

"IT WAS YOU!" He shouted, now filled with rage. "You sabotaged my staff training! You're what's been keeping me from moving! You've been messing with me this whole time!

Freak glared at him before admitting. "Fine. Yeah, it was me."

He couldn't believe her! "What happened to wanting me to be part of the team?"

"I didn't make that call! After you helped save them from specter everyone else begged me to let you join. I put it to a vote and I got out voted. Simple as that."

Link stared at her in disbelief. "Why wouldn't you want me on the team?"

"Uh, maybe because you have zero experience? Maybe because I figured you weren't even close to good enough yet? Maybe because unlike everyone else I didn't think one win automatically made you any good?"

He glared at her. "You are the worst sister ever!"

She snarled and glared back at him. "Really? I think its about time you got a reality check. _You started literally yesterday night._ You were getting you're butt kicked by that Specter creep before we stepped in and if we hadn't, you would've gotten squished like a bug. Do you even get how insane lucky you are? A second later and you would've died Link! How do you think that makes me feel? Cuz I'll tell you, it sucked!

That blew away some of his anger. "Lori..."

"Don't you get how freaking terrifying my job is?" She asked angrily." I have to lead a team made up of my sisters, some of whom are still in elementary school, into danger every day! I have to constantly worry that one day, one or all of them will slip up and end up dead! Then not only would I have to tell our parents we've been lying to them for so long, but also that I ended up getting their children killed. But at least they have powers, at least they're trained. Do you think I want my barely powered inexperienced _only_ brother out here too?!"

Before he could respond, a massive cracking sound came from beneath them. The ground split open and from it rose a giant worm like creature. It was covered in thick skin, a slimy dirt brown, as tall as the buildings around them and had a large green eye on the side of its head. Its mouth was filled with rows of razor sharp teeth. The creature lowered its head and began eating the sidewalk, crunching cement in it's massive jaw. Once it saw Freak and Link, it roared, then spat a large sphere of regurgitated rock at them.

Link couldn't move. All he could do was blink, before he found himself being pushed out of the way. He fell to the ground and managed to catch a glimpse of Lori standing in his place, right before the sphere fell.

Link laid there in shock. As he pulled himself up from the ground, the world around him seemed to be in slow motion. It felt like all the sound, all the smells, all the color, everything had drained away from his surroundings. The only thing that he could see was the large pile of rubble that now occupied the space where his sister had been.

He ran forward and began to futilely beat his hand against the rock as if hoping he could somehow break it apart with his bare hands. As he attacked the mound, his breathing grew heavy and her name continued to fall painfully and frantically from his lips.

"Lori! LORI! LORI!"

Smashing at the cluster, tears began to fall from his eyes, and despite the pain from his hands hitting against rock, he continued to attempt at breaking it until he was completely exhausted. All he could do was press his head to the piece of rock he'd been attempting to crack, his eyes now clamped shut with tears pouring down, brokenly whispering his sisters name.

"Lori..."

She was gone. She was gone and the last thing he'd said to her was that she was the worst sister ever just for trying to protect him.

He angrily turned to the monster that was now chewing pieces off buildings.

"You killed her." He said to it, rage bubbling in his stomach. "YOU KILLED MY SISTER!"

He withdrew his staff and charged at the monster. It saw him coming and attempted to hit him with stone balls, but his training kicked in and he avoided each one and managed to get near the monsters belly. He flipped through staff functions, set it for electro-prod and then jabbed the worm-beast in the belly. It screeched in pain and smacked him into the air with it's tail end.

Flying through the air, Link was sure he was about to join Lori, but then he found himself colliding with something fluffy. He looked up and realized he was on the back of a giant yellow bird with razor sharp feathers, massive talons,and an angry look on it's face. It was walt.

"We got you bro." Said Housepet from slightly above him. Landing a farther bit away from the carnage, Link saw the rest of the team run up to them.

"There you are." Said Rocker. "We got the alert message but by the time we got to base you dudes had already left." She looked around. "Where's Control Freak?"

Links blood froze as he remembered what had happened to his eldest sister.

"Lincoln? what happened?"

He stood there in silence before quietly saying. "She's gone."

The team gasped.

Tailor was confused. "Where did she go?"

Link looked at her and said bluntly. "She's dead Leni."

Leni's face fell when he said so. "But, she was...no! She, she..." A flood of tears started streaming from her face. She covered her soaked face with her hands. "Lori!" She wailed.

While most of the group was in a stupor, Rocker managed to focus on him and ask. "How?"

It took everything Lincoln had to say it. "Because of me." He said brokenly.

That got the rest of their attention. "What do you mean because of you?" Asked Lucy.

He started to cry so violently he was shaking. "T-the monster. It-it tried to attack me and sh-she pushed me out of the way and she..." He broke down and fell to the ground crying.

The rest of the group was equally shattered. The twins were crying into each others shoulders. Lynn was beating her fist against the wall muttering. "Why? why?" Lucy was completely silent, but her air of pain could be felt by everyone else. Luan was in tears, being comforted by Luna. The only one not falling apart was Lisa.

"I know this is a hard moment, but we still have a creature attacking the city." She said as matter-of-factly as she could.

Lynn grabbed her and held her up by the front of her shirt. "Do NOT tell me you're trying to talk about a monster when we just found out our sister is dead! Do you seriously not care about us so much that-."

"I've just discovered my eldest sibling is deceased." She said in a hollow voice. "I care a great deal. But just because we've lost someone, doesn't mean we are allowed to let others perish."

Luna nodded. "She's right dudes. Lor wouldn't want us to sit here moping. She'd want us to keep her in our heart and focus on saving the day." She bent down to look at Lincoln who was now just sitting there dejectedly. "Link."

"It's all my fault." He mumbled. "She told me I wasn't ready."

"Hey, I know." She said giving him a hug. "I know. But we gotta do this and we need you bro."

He sat there thinking about what had happened. Lori had given her life to save him. Even after what he said, she saved his life.

He clenched his fists and nodded.

"Lets go."

* * *

The team soared overtop the city on Walt's back. They found the creature still devouring the building it had been near.

"All right, is everyone clear on the plan?" Rocker asked.

They all nodded.

"Okay guys, lets move out and do this." She put out her hand. "For Lori."

They all added their hands on top.

"For Lori!"

With that they went to work. Night, and princess flew down, Tailor and Fool swung, and Rocker, Athlete, and Link slid down on a slide of Brainy's nano tech.

While running towards the fight, Athlete noticed something out of the corner of her eye.

"Wait a minute...No way!" She ran in the opposite direction from the team.

Princess got there first. She blasted the creature with an energy blast to get its attention.

"Hey! Ugly! come and get me!" She shouted.

Enranged, the Worm-beast followed her as she flew away from it. It inched closer and closer as it slithered through the streets. Up on a rooftop Link pulled a handful of Cryo-bombs from his pocket as he followed the monster. Once he was close enough, he chucked the bombs at the beast, freezing it in place. While it attempted to pull itself from the ice, Housepet swooped overhead on Walt's back and had him swing his wing at it, which caused a flurry of razor sharp feathers to be flung at the monster and lodge in its back. Both Tailor and Fool created slingshot like constructs, one from thread the other from a stretched arm and used them to fling cars at the creatures side. Night from claws from shadows and used them to slash at it. Rocker moved in front of it where she blasted it with a powerful high note. Behind her Brainy formed a cannon that Lincoln was loading with all of his mini explosives. Link had no idea where Athlete had gone, but they had no time. They had to stay focused on the creatures mouth

The monster wriggled as it tried to tear against its bonds and screeched from the pain of the attacks. Soon, it began to lose its strength and momentarily stopped.

Seeing the creature had stopped, Link shouted. "Brainy! Fire!"

She activated the cannon, shooting the orbs into the monsters mouth. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then it's body began to convulse as bubbles started forming on its skin. In one massive burst, the creature blew into pieces, leaving behind a pile of brown slime.

Everyone cheered excited at their victory. Even princess was happy despite the worms gut slime getting all over her suit. They were victorious.

But the excitement was short lived.

"I guess we gotta go tell mom and dad about Lori." Said Housepet somberly.

Mom and dad. Lincoln had no idea what was gonna happen there. They had never really discussed how to tell their parents their secret and now it came with terrible news.

All of a sudden they saw Athlete running towards them with a massive grin on her face.

"GUYS, GUYS!"

Link frowned. " 'lete where were you? We didn't know what to-." He stopped when he saw the blue clad figure behind her.

It was Lori.

"What the heck happened? Did you guys stop the monster?" She was surprised to find herself engulfed in a hug from Lincoln.

"You're okay! I was so worried! I-I Thought you-." He couldn't bring himself to say it again.

Lori patted his head soothingly. "Hey, its okay. I'm alright."

The rest of the team caught up. "Dud you're okay." Luna said.

"Lincoln told us you were dead!" Said Leni.

"I had already started planning your eulogy. It was beautiful." said Lucy

"I'm fine. When that thing spat a rock at him, I made a telekinetic shield around myself before it hit. I just pushed him out of the way so he wouldn't get squished. But after I made the shield, I couldn't move the rock without getting crushed. I was luck Lynn saw the pile I was under moving or I wouldn't have been able to come help" She looked at the carnage behind them. "Although it looks like you all did okay without me."

"Yes, Lincoln came up with a plan to mash the monstrous megadrile." Lisa explained.

Lori looked down at him. "Looks like you saved the day again Link. Not bad."

Lincolns response was to simply hug her even tighter.

* * *

After returning home, everyone was fawning over Lori. They hugged her, tearfully asked her not to leave again, and were super nice to her. But Lincoln seemed a bit distant since the hug.

After she finished changing, he cornered her and asked for a chance to talk.

"Lori, I'm sorry about what I said." He explained.

She rolled her eyes. "It's not big deal. I did mess with you're training."

"It is a big deal!" He suddenly shouted. "You could've died and the last thing I would've said was that you were the worst sister ever."

She put a hand on his shoulder. "Look, we were both angry and said stuff we were wrong about. I was wrong about you. The way everyone talked, you did good out there. I know this job is stressful, but I shouldn't have tried to stop you. All I can do is prep you so when you do go out there, you'll be ready for anything."

Lincoln smiled fondly at her. "Thanks Lori."

"No problem. Now come on. You've got combat practice with Lynn and she gets mad when you're late."

"Yes Ma'am!"

And the two of them walked together to the training room.

**_"Being part of a family is hard. Being part of a superhero team is even harder. Lori showed me that no matter how hard it gets, we can get through it. As long as we stick by each others sides, We can deal with anything._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I hope you all liked this first new issue. I hope to write them in more of an episode format then what I had before. It just felt more cohesive that way. Now for the pointless author's notes.
> 
> Lori-Again, sorry about her character if you don't like it but frankly I can see Lori doing this. Remember in this AU she's basically responsible for the safety of all her siblings in the field. Being a superhero is stressful, being a sibling is stressful, being the leader of a team is stressful, basically her whole life is just putting her under a lot of strain. She's gotta make the tough calls and deep down is super afraid of something happening to one of her siblings. She's under a lot of pressure and is constantly worried about Lincoln,because he is the most vulnerable one.
> 
> Lori's "Death"- I honestly thought of her getting free from developing telepathy, but that felt a bit lazy. so I just had Lynn find her and help her.
> 
> Walt- I like the idea of all of Lana's animals having recognizable forms. The cat is a sabertooth, the bird is kinda like zapdose minus the black parts, the dog is basically a giant monster version of itself, and the hamster is still a hamster just in a giant ball.
> 
> Only Lincoln and Lori-I felt like this was always something that would go in my stories. The whole team doesn't go out unless it's something major and they can call for backucp if they need to. It makes sense. The avengers only needed 7 people to protect new york. What kind of emergency could possibly require 11 different superheroes?


	7. Issue 3- Assault Swim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have any questions about my stories or ideas visit my Tumblr at https://l-egionaire.tumblr.com.

**Disclaimer: Loud House is owned by Chris Savino and Nickelodeon. This story is entirely for entertainment and is completely nonprofit.**

* * *

It was a hot sunny day in royal woods. To beat the heat, dozens of different families had gathered together at the beach for a nice cold swim. And one such family was the Louds.

In the water, eight of the sisters were trying to distance themselves from Lynn who was currently swimming menacingly in a widening circle with her eyes closed hoping to come upon one of the Louds in a game of Marco polo. Lincoln was relaxing by himself, laying on an innertube while listening to his music player with his eyes closed.

"Marco!" Lynn yelled out.

The girls looked at each other fearfully. Lola smirked and signaled the others to follow her. She swam over to Lincoln and called out. "Polo!" She swam away as Lynn pushed herself closer.

"Marco!" Lynn pushed herself over to where her voice came from. She pawed at the air, narrowly missing Lincoln's toes.

Luan swam up behind him and she gave out a shout. "Polo!" Before swimming off.

Lynn pushed herself forward and put out her hand, her fingers grabbing onto wet flesh. Smiling at having finally caught someone, she leaped out of the water and tackled her brother.

Needless to say Lincoln was surprised to find himself being attacked out of nowhere by his sister and futilely attempted to push her off.

"Lynn! Get off! I'm not playing!

But Lynn refused to let go. She grabbed him around his waist with her mighty grip, picked him up out of the water and then brought him down as hard as she could (without hurting him).

**" _If there's one thing the superhero gig has taught me is that you have to learn to be comfortable with sudden changes. Whether that's finding yourself with superpowers, becoming part of a superhero team, or just the everyday stuff of your sports crazed sister trying to nearly drown you. You have to be ready for things you might not know how to deal with."_**

Lynn suddenly stopped when a large mass of bubbles appeared in the water.

Lori made a disgusted face. "Lynn!"

Lynn frowned, holding a breathless Lincoln over her head. "That wasn't me." She said nervously.

More bubbles started to appear, along with strong tremors that shook the whole beach. From out of the water emerged a massive creature, about 30 ft tall. It was a light blue bipedal humanoid creature only instead of a face it had a number of tentacles and below them was a circular mouth ringed with teeth.

The beachgoers were completely stunned by the monster. The Louds all gaped up at it with looks of awe. In her daze, Lynn loosened her grip on Lincoln causing him to fall into the water. Lucy seemed the most amazed, gazing at the monstrosity with something close to excitement.

"The great old one has risen." She whispered in excitement.

The monster stared down at the people on the beach before letting out a massive screech. It's tentacles extended outwards and began grabbing people off the beach. Soon everyone else started running off in terror.

Seeing people in danger broke the Louds of their stupor.

"We need to go change." Said Lori. The girls rushed out of the water and behind a changing tent. Lincoln pulled himself out of the water wearily. He looked around before seeing the giant creature. He noticed his sisters running off and immediately understood the situation and followed after them.

Once they were hidden Lori pressed a button on her wrist communicator. The group waited a few seconds before a large metal box was dropped to the ground from a green and silver drone. Lori pressed a button on the side causing the box to split open and reveal their costumes neatly folded in a stack.

The team changed into their costumes and the L-force emerged!

"Okay guys, lets make this thing into sushi!" said Control Freak.

As usual Athlete was the first to move. She jumped at the monster attempting to hit it at full force but when her fist connected with it, instead of hitting a solid surface, it sunk into the creatures skin like a balloon and then repelled her back onto the beach.

Princess blasted into the air around it, peppering it with small blasts of energy, being careful to avoid hitting the people entrapped in its tentacles. While she managed to make some small red marks on its skin, they didn't seem to do much real damage.

From the ground, Tailor and Fool were using their powers to try and pull the people from the monsters powerful appendages. They pulled with all their might but couldn't manage to get them out, leaving them in a kind of strange tug of war with the beast.

Housepet dug around in a pouch in the front of her suit and withdrew a hermit crab. She charged it with her power and it grew to the size of a small dog. It carried her into the water and onto the creatures body where it began slashing and stabbing with it's mighty claws causing the monster to thrash around in pain.

The rest of the team was still on the beach trying to come up with their own plan of attack.

"Another sea monster? What is this like the fifth one?" said Control Freak.

"How do we stop it?" Asked Rocker.

"It appears to be a type of bipedal cephalopod. Its tentacled grip will difficult to break." Said Brainy.

Control Freak turned to Link. "Any bright ideas?"

Link looked at the way the beast moved. While it had been abducting people from the beach it was still submerged up to over its waist in the water. Despite the assault and the force of Tailor and Fool tugging on it, it made no move to leave the sea. Almost as if it couldn't

Link snapped his fingers. "It can't leave the water!"

Control Freak gave him a pointed look. "And how does that help?"

Link smirked. "I've got a plan." He shouted out to his team. "Tailor, Fool let go!"

They both looked at him with doubt. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" Fool asked, her arm still wrapped around a person.

"Just do it!"

They both released their holds, causing the creature to be hit by the recoil and let go of the people as it fell backwards into the water. Pet and her crab leaped off its back as it crashed downward.

Quick as a whip, Fool and Tailor used their powers to become and craft nets to catch the falling people.

The creature began to rise up again.

Link yelled out. "Princess, circle that thing as fast as you can and turn up your energy field as hot as you can get it!"

"On it!"

Princess began circling the area around the monster while increasing the output from her powers causing a massive tornado of superhot energy to form around it.

The monster was engulfed by the heat of the tornado and was soon screeching out in terrible pain.

Eventually Princess slowed down and the tornado dissipated revealing the monster now bright red and moaning in pain before collapsing into the sea.

Control freak sighed. "So much for a nice day at the beach."

* * *

_"And this is just the latest in the long string of attacks by these aquatic creatures. Thankfully the L-force was once again there to help protect the people. But the question still remains, where are these creatures coming from? And why are they attacking our city?_

"That's what we'd like to know." Said Lori

The team was gathered in the meeting room observing the news brodcast of their battle at the beach.

"Okay lets review." She tapped a finger to the table and a number of small holographic screens popped up displaying multiple monster attacks.

"For about two weeks these things have literally been popping up everywhere and attacking people. Thankfully no one has gotten hurt, _yet,_ but we need to figure out what exactly is causing these things to appear." She turned to Lisa. "You can take it from here."

Lisa moved to the front of the table and tapped her finger to it a few times causing the image to shift to a map of the areas of the attacks.

"Each of these attacks have all originated from an aquatic area such as a beach. While these creature have had land based appendages they have yet to be amphibious and pose no current danger to land locked areas. By examining the locations of each attack, I've discovered that they are each proceeded by a reading from a strange energy signature. Using the locations of each attack, I've deduced the location to be right..." The maps connected until they hit a point in the middle of the sea a few miles from royal woods. '...Here."

The rest of the team looked a bit concerned.

Lincoln spoke up first. "Lisa, thats the middle of the ocean."

"Actually its a small underwater point 6 miles from the Royal woods shore and at least a few feet below the surface. Using Walt, we'll fly out a few feet in and put us within swimming distance of the energy source."

"But how are we supposed to breathe down there?" Asked Lynn. "I'm a strong swimmer but even I don't think I can hold my breath six _miles underwater_. _"_

"Yeah, I can't _sea_ how that's possible. HAHAHAHA. Get it?" Luan joked. The team groaned.

"Lisa how are we supposed to get that far down without drowning?" Asked Lori.

Lisa smiled. "I'm glad you asked."

* * *

"Behold, the L-01 series submersible suits!"

In Lisa's lab hung a row of high tech scuba suits in all their colors with helmets on a shelf above them.

Lisa and Leni were both beaming with pride at their creations.

Lincoln frowned. "Since when have we had scuba suits?"

"Oh, We made these about a week after we started our superhero activities." Lisa explained

"Then why are you just showing them to us now?" He asked.

"Because we've never needed them before. It's why we don't use the space suits either."

Lincoln stared at her, mystified. She began to explain how the suits worked.

"These suits are made of a specialized material with some integrated bits of nanotech." Lisa grabbed one and pulled on the neck showing a silver-green brace around it. "These micro aqua lungs work on the same principals as a fish's gills, separating the oxygen from water molecules and converting them into air for our helmets. The suits themselves are water resistant and able to withstand incredibly high pressures." She turned it over and showed jet-like vents on the back. "The thrusters on the back will enhance our speed and allow for quick undersea movement. They also provide the same functions as our land based suits"

"And they come in a variety of colors. Green, red, fuchsia, you name it." Leni said excitedly.

The others were exstatic

"Guys these are awesome!" Said Lincoln

"Seriously cool." Luna agreed.

"Okay people, we can literally drool over the scuba suits later. Lets head out and find out whats causing the invasion of walking seafood." Lori lead the others to grab their suits when Lisa moved in front of their way.

"Whats the big idea?" Lori asked, annoyed.

"We can't just go out and investigate." Lisa said vehemently. "We have to train in using them, work on our underwater combat abilities. "

"Lisa I think we can handle using scuba suits. And as for the combat stuff we already know how to fight." Lynn said nonchalantly.

"We've _never_ fought in an aquatic environment before." Lisa argued.

"Oh come on, whats the worst that could happen?" Lola asked.

"We have no experience in undersea confrontations. We've never even tested whether our abilities will even work underwater."

"What, are you worried the water will take away our super powers?" Lori asked skeptically.

Lisa glared at her. "The physics and atmospheric conditions of the sea are far different than they are on dry land. Physical movement, liquid viscosity, amount of light, movement of sound. These are all things that effect our powers and they all work far differently underwater. I know I won't be able to use my nano technology due to it being soluble. I'll have to take some pre-made inventions instead."

Lincoln stepped forward and knelt down to look her in the eye.

"Lisa, I know this might be different than we're used to. But the longer we wait, the more likely it is that there might be another sea monster attack. And we're the only ones who can do anything about it."

Lisa stared him in silence before sighing and saying. "Well, I suppose time is of the essence." She looked at the others. "Everyone get their suit and equipment together. Looks like we'll have to test these out on the fly."

* * *

The team gathered on the same beach where they had stopped the octopus attack. They were all in their scuba suits readying their underwater equipment.

They all had to make some minor changes. Leni's spools were replaced with lines of fishing rope. Luna's collar was removed as she had a voice modulating device built into hers. Lana's had a small belt around the waist with multiple colorful orbs filled with water and different small fish, the only other animal accompanying her was Walt. Lisa had a utility belt slightly larger than Lincolns filled and lined with different weapons and devices

Control Freak turned to the group. "All right everyone, lets go over the plan one more time. Lisa keyed the energy signature to our suits. When we get close enough to it we'll receive an alert. The minute we find the source of the energy we alert the others. Any questions?" Everyone shook their heads. "Good. Pet, give us a ride."

Pet pressed a button on the wrist of her suit causing the fabric around her fingers to peal back. She pressed her hands to Walt causing him to grow. The team piled onto his back and took off into the sky.

After flying for a few minutes, they looked into the sea whipping down below. Everyone grew uneasy looks on their faces.

"So, who's going in first?" Link asked nervously.

Everyone immediately put their finger to the middle of their helmet.

"What are you guys-?" Then he understood. "Dang it."

He looked down. The water churned, flipping into peaks and waves. While it wasn't actually that far down, from on top of the bird it looked like the sea was deeper than the grand canyon.

"Go already!" Lynn said

"I-i am." He tried to move but his legs wouldn't stop shaking. He suddenly envisioned himself hitting the water and finding it solid as stone causing every bone in his body to shatter.

"Uh, maybe we should all go in together." He said sheepishly.

Lynn rolled her eyes. She walked over to him and grabbed him by the ankle and shoulder.

"Lynn! Aw, come on! Not again!"

She walked to the edge of Walt's wing and threw him over it.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! SPLASH!

Lincoln hit the water and fell far below the surface. He panicked for a moment taking quick breaths, but there was no problem. The gill tech in the suit whirred to life and provided him with plenty of oxygen.

After he regained his composure he looked around at his surroundings. Once he saw where he was his jaw dropped in amazement.

He pressed the communication device in his helmet and said. "Guys, you really need to come down here."

Hearing their brothers astonishment the rest of the team jumped, or in Lynn's case cannon balled, into the water below. Before she dove all the way down, Housepet poked her head back to the surface and yelled to Walt. "Don't forget to pick us up!" As he flew back to royal woods.

Once they arrived at the bottom the rest of the team was just as astonished by what they saw.

It was incredible. There were clusters of pink and green sea anemones that stretched for miles, their tendrils swaying like leaves in the wind. There were a number of sea plants nearly as large as trees. A rainbow of corals dotted the ground making it seem as if it was shimmering with color. Multiple breeds of fish darted around. The whole place was a menagerie of color and life.

"Its so pretty!" Princess squealed.

"Incredible, there really is no end to the beauty of ocean life." Brainy said.

"Who cares about that? Let's go check this place out!" Said Athlete.

The team swam forward in excitement. They gazed around in awe of all the amazing things they were seeing. Housepet tried grabbing at a few fish that swam by. Tailor and Princess went to the ground and picked up pieces of coral from the ground. Fool found an octopus and stretched her arms and legs around to emulate it. Night found a shadowy sea cave and crawled in. Athlete was just having fun and swimming around at high speed with her suits thrusters. Only Link, Rocker, and Brainy stayed in line.

Seeing that almost all her siblings had gotten off course, Freak clapped her hands together to get the others attention and then said. "Hey! We're not here to sightsee and play around. We're on a mission."

The others griped but went to follow the others. Athlete muttered. "Leave it to Control Freak to spoil our fun."

Freak rounded on her. "What was that!?"

She gulped. "Nothing."

The team swam for ward and began searching around using scanners in the wrists of their suits to look for clues.

"Has anyone found anything?" Asked Freak.

"Nope."

"Nada."

"Uh-uh."

"No."

"Negative."

Suddenly a squeal rang out. "Guys look, I found a dolphin!" Said Tailor.

The team looked and saw that she was looking a a massive Hammerhead with thick spikes jutting out of it's skin peeking out of a bush of seaweed.

"Tailor, back away slowly." Freak said.

"Oh but he so cute." She reached out her hand to pat its nose but Athlete tackled her before she could. She dragged her away.

The shark roared and the team swam off. It quickly swam after them.

The team moved as fast as they could, but the shark was too fast even with Lisa's special suits.

Princess turned to point out her hand at it. "I'm gonna roast it."

Brainy grabbed her hand.

"Hey!"

"If you try and use your power offensively the resulting heat down here will boil us alive!" She explained.

"Well than what do we do?"

"We got to stop it." Said Control Freak. She looked over at rocker. "Rocker give that shark a lullaby."

"On it." She stopped and sucked in her breath.

Brainy gasped. "Wait don't-!"

Rocker let out a scream but the resulting shockwave not only pushed away the shark, it also blasted her team away as well.

"GUYS! Oh man I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" She moved to go and help them up.

Brainy shook her head to get rid of her dizziness and said. "See? This is what I was worried about. Our abilities work far differently in this environment. We don't know how to fight underwater and it's limiting our effectiveness. We should go back, prepare and return once we've had more experience.

Freak looked out at the rest of the team still recovering from being hit by the sound from Rockers attack.

"Okay. Maybe your right. We should head back and-." PING!

She looked at the scanner on her wrist. "Hey, I got a hit from that energy source we've been looking for!"

Brainy looked at hers and frowned. "That's odd."

"What?"

"Well, according to these readings either my scanners malfunctioning, which is highly unlikely, or the energy source is...closing in on us?"

Suddenly the team found themselves being circled by more mutant sharks.

"Aw come on! Again with this?" Said Athlete.

Then they noticed a figure floating appear above the circle. He was vaguely human looking with thick webbed arms and legs, but his skin was the same blue shade as the water, his mouth was ringed in multiple sharp teeth, his fingers and toes were tipped in sharp claws, he had a set of gills on his neck, and a fin that went down the length of his back. The only clothing he wore was a tattered pair of red and white swim trunks. In his hands was a shining white hunk of rock.

Link pointed to the stone. "I'm going to take a guess and say that's what your scanners picked up?"

"Yep."

The figure glared down at them. "And who are you?"

"We're the L-force. Duh. Better question: Who the heck are you and whats with the monster sharks?" Asked Freak.

"So, you're the one's who've been stopping the forerunners of my invasion." He growled.

"Invasion?" Link gasped.

"Yes, the one's you defeated where merely scouts to test the strength of the surface dwellers."

"Some scouts, they couldn't even leave the water." Athlete scoffed.

The figure grimaced. "Yes, an unfortunate weakness. But I've been working to correct that flaw."

"Dude, why are you trying to hurt people? What have you got against everybody up on the surface anyway?" Rocker asked.

The figure grimaced. "Because I was one of them."

* * *

_"I was once a simple man with one goal: Protection."_

_A man in a white shirt and red swim shorts put on a pair of reflective sunglasses, smeared sunscreen on his nose, and slipped on a whistle._

_He sat in a large white chair above a pool watching over the people._

_"But none of them respected me."_

_He blew his whistle at a group of kids running around and they pelted him with waterballons. He blew it a at a teen about to dive in the shallow end and they pelted him with waterballoons. He found a couple making out in a storage closet and when he blew it at them they pelted him with water balloons._

_"I gave a good portion of my life to them and they repayed me with ridicule and laughter!"_

_While working at a shift at the beach he sees a massive tidal wave approaching. He ran out and started blowing his whistle to alert people but he was once again pelted by waterballoons. The force of the hits knocking him into the sea._

_He struggles against the force of the waves but soon runs out of energy and falls to the very bottom of the dark ocean._

_Then a light appears. The luminescent shard fills the area with light and causes him to undergo a painful metamorphosis._

_His jaw begin to stretch out and his teeth grew sharp. His skin started melting into thick scales. His hands began to enlarge and on his back his spine extended outward into a fin._

_"I was changed into the hideous creature you see before you. I tried returning to the surface but when I emerged the people fled in fear."_

_The fishman climbed out of the water and waved to a group of people, but they pelted him with water balloons until he retreated back to the sea._

_"They treated me like a monster! But I knew the truth, THEY were the monsters! They did this to me! So I swore I would make them pay."_

* * *

The team was shocked by his story but one in particular was the most interested.

"So you say you were mutated by this shard of rock?" Asked Brainy. "You weren't mutated by the event?"

"No, this shard gave me power." He gestured his hands at the sharks. "And it gave powers to them as well. I was able to connect and enhance my undersea brethren. Made them powerful enough to rise to the surface. Soon, they will no longer be bound to the water. They will have to power to walk on the surface world and crush them all!"

Brainy rolled her eyes. "Do you have to keep talking like that?"

"Like what?"

"Enhance my brethren? Surface dwellers? You were a life guard in most likely your mid 30s and you've only been down here for a few months. You shouldn't be talking like a character from _th_ _e little mermaid."_

He growled. "You-! I-! Whatever! You brats still won't be able to stop me!"

"I think this fish guys been alone for a bit too long." Said Control Freak.

"Hey what's your name?" Link asked.

The figure looked at him in confusion. "What?"

"Your name, you know like what do people call you? it feels weird just calling you the fish guy."

"He looks like he might be an Aquario." Said Tailor.

"What?!"

"Well your a fish so I kinda thought-."

"I AM NOT A- Actually I kind of like that."

"It does kinda suit him." Said Link.

The newly christened "Aquario" snarled. "I don't have time for this idiocy. Brothers! It's feeding time."

Aquario swam off, while leaving the sharks to inch closer to the team.

"We beat one of these things. We can beat these too!" Freak said.

She focused her power on a large rock nearby and tried pulling towards a shark, but the rock moved incredibly slow and wasn't coming quickly enough.

She tried moving her arms in different ways to get it to move faster.

"Why...won't...it...move!?"

"Objects move at a far slower speed underwater." Brainy explained.

"Relax Freak. I got this." Athlete swam at a shark and hit square across the face. Two more swam at her. She tried attacking them but her fist also moved slower and she was unable to properly hit them as they dodged around her blows.

While watching Athlete fight, Freak hadn't noticed one shark get close enough to try and bite into her. She panicked. But before it could sink it's teeth into her, Tailor shot out a line of rope that entangled it and kept it in place.

"Bad dolphins. Leave Control Freak alone!"

One shark was closing in on Link, Rocker, and Princess. The other two were wary of using their powers so Link pulled his staff out and tried to swing it at the shark, but it was like swinging a bat through maple syrup. The shark easily dodged it and the three were forced to flee.

Housepet rolled her eyes when she saw them. "I gotta do everything around here." She opened one of the orbs on her belt that held a fighting fish. She opened the area around her fingers again and charged it up, growing it to the size of a skateboard. She grabbed onto it and it went to work slapping away the shark with it's fins.

Athlete was still engaged in a two on one fight with the sharks, but her blows were still too slow. One swam at her quickly to attack her but hit a wall of darkness conjured by Night.

Seeing that she couldn't manage to keep up, Athlete stopped attacking and let the shark clamp its teeth down on her wrist, then she hit it square in the gut causing it to let go.

Fool wrapped herself around one sharks mouth struggling to keep it shut.

"I think I prefer your BARK to your BITE!"

The team was doing their best but only half of them were even effective and they were severely outnumbered.

Brainy pulled out a small blaster and shot an explosive projectile at one causing it to retreat.

"We're completely outmatched. These creatures are far more effective down here than we are. Our best option would be to beat a hasty retreat."

"Hey, I'm the one who says to retreat." Said freak. A shark swam towards her and almost bit off her head. "And that's exactly why I'm saying RETREAT!"

The team regroup and swam away as quickly as possible but they were still too slow compared to the sharks.

Brainy looked around and suddenly noticed something.

"Pet, there's a grove of sponges up ahead!" She said.

"So what?" Asked Housepet.

"Sponges are technically classified as animals. Your power should work on them!"

"Should?!"

"Do you have a better idea?"

Conceding the point, Pet waited until they had reached the grove, got off her fish, and unlatched her fingers to run them across the length of the different sponges.

The sponges grew to be the size of of refrigerators. Each one grew next to the others in line creating a wall of thick spongy shields.

The minute the sharks hit it they found themselves stuck in the thick walls of the sponges.

The team stopped for a moment to catch their breath.

"Okay. What now?" Asked Link.

He saw the rest of the team all had unsure looks on their faces.

"Guys? We're gonna come up with a plan to stop Aquario right?"

Control Freak spoke up.

"Maybe we should head back."

Link was shocked. "But we have to stop him! You heard what he said. If we don't stop him, he'll take over everything."

"Link, Brainy was right. We don't know what we're doing down here. We literally almost got eaten. It might be better if we went back up to the surface. Waited for him to show and met him there."

That sounded like a good idea but...

"We can't. If we go back up we'll risk dragging other people into this and cause insane damage. We have to stop him here and now before he can make his army land worthy." Argued Link.

"And how are we supposed to do that? Over half of us are barely able to fight down here." Brainy argued.

She had a point. Link looked over at the wall of sponges next to them. That gave him an idea.

"This is how." He said patting the wall.

The others gave him confused looks.

"With sponges?" Asked Princess.

"No! We just need to change how we fight. We use our powers and gear in ways that work better underwater. Like how Housepet did with the sponges. Just hear me out..."

* * *

In an underwater clearing, Aquario dropped over a dozen normal crabs onto the ground. He held up the fragment to bathe them in it's light.

"Now my children the time has come to-ugh, that kid was right I do need to stop talking like this. Just grow so we can take everything over."

The crabs began to grow larger until they were about the size of full grown men and had humanoid upper bodies but with six legged hindquarters like a bunch of crab centaurs.

Aquario smiled. "Excellent. Now follow me! No one will be able to stop us now!"

"Dude, you really need to learn not to say stuff like that when fighting superheroes."

He turned around and saw the L-force floating up in the air above him.

He smirked. "You children think you can stop me? I am master of this ocean! You have no hope against me here!"

Freak smirked. "We'll see about that. ATTACK!"

Aquario shouted to his army. "Destroy them all!"

The crab monsters scuttled after the team, moving with incredible speeds despite their size.

Seeing the approaching enemy, Freak said. "Okay guys. Just like we talked about." The team split up to fight.

A few crab monsters saw Freak trying to run off and gave chase to her. She let them follow until she came to the underside of a small hill topped with a few boulders. She waited a few moments until the crabs got close enough then she used her power to tug the rocks from ontop until they fell and pinned the crab monsters to the ground.

Princess found herself surrounded by creatures. remembering Links advice she focused her power throughout her body like she would if she were flying and used it to propel herself and ram each of the crabs in the circle, smashing into them like a bullet.

Link and Brainy were floating and waiting for the crabs to come after them with their hands clasped.

"Now?" Link asked.

"Not yet."

The crabs were now right underneath of them.

"Now?"

"Not yet."

The crabs propelled themselves upward inching closer to the two.

Link looked at her and she nodded her head. They unclasped their hands unloading the dozens of explosive orbs they'd held in their belts. The crabs ran into them causing a shower of explosions. Some tried to avoid them, but there were so many it was impossible.

Athlete used the thrusters in her suit to get near the crabs and then delivered a hard punch to their stomach area.

Pet was grabbing handfuls of coral causing crab soldiers to become trapped in the hard between their branches.

"We're really doing it!" Fool shouted as she entangled herself around a crab.

As she use her power to toss some crabs into the air, Night noticed Rocker floating outside the battlefield.

"Rocker. We need you out you here too."

"I-i cant. It's too dangerous. I might end up making things worse!"

"ENOUGH!"

Seeing his army was being decimated, Aquario swam down and grabbed Freak by her neck.

"Perhaps you fool's will surrender once I've crushed your leader."

Before he could harm her, a massive high pitch sound was aimed at him blasting him away. Rocker focused her scream best she could tying to incapacitate the monster who dared hurt her sister.

After almost ten minutes she stopped. Aquario was completely comatose and floated upwards toward the surface.

"I think this dude's been cooked. You okay Freak?" Then she saw Freak was also comatose having also been hit. "Oops."

* * *

The team brought Aquario and his army to the shore to be apprehended by the police. They were being hauled up by fishing nets and placed into the back of a SWAT van.

Link noticed Brainy holding Aqaurio's shard encased in a glass capsule. "Shouldn't you have given that to the police?"

"Actually I think this object will be much safer in our hands. Aquario used it to craft his aquatic soldiers and I'd like to know how."

Control Freak sighed. "Okay go ahead and say it."

Brainy frowned. "Say what?"

"That you warned us that fighting underwater without preparing was a bad idea and we should have trained more before going down."

"I have to admit i'm not so sure I was. I'll admit, we suffered some setbacks but overall we did manage to complete our mission. And if we had waited, we would've face an invasion of mutated crustaceans." She turned to Link. "And I will say, you did give good advice on adapting to our environment. How did you know that would work?"

"We're superheroes. Things kinda have a way of working themselves out."

Brainy smiled. "I suppose they do."

_**"Like I said, you have to get used to change. It can come as suddenly as a monster crashing out the ocean. But when your superhero you learn to be able to roll with that change. Especially with a team like mine.** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now for the notes,
> 
> Underwater-I wanted to try and emphasize that the team might have trouble fighting underwater because remember in the story Lincoln made this comic with Lisa partially in mind and I get the feeling he'd be the kind of nerd who realized superpowers wouldn't quite work the same way underwater as they would on dry land.
> 
> Aquario-He is based on the Lifeguard from the pool in "Link or swim" While I was writing him I found myself seeing some of Arlong from one piece and Attuma in his design. For the name I was gonna have him be gill but that just felt too lazy besides Aquario sounds more like a villain.
> 
> Fight scene-I hope those were okay. Fight scenes and action sequences are my weakest point but I'm trying to work on those. Especially since the ones in the last two chapters felt too alike.


	8. Issue- 4 Around The Town in 60 Minutes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> iguysif you have questions about my stories or ideas visit my Tumblr at https://l-egionaire.tumblr.com

In a park in the middle of the city, a man and his girlfriend were having a romantic picnic lunch.

The man was so excited. Finally after all this time, he would ask her! He reached inside the basket and pulled out a black box. He lifted the top to reveal a small diamond ring on a bed of velvet.

The woman gasped.

He smiled. "Would you do me the honor of-"

Before he could finish the box was snatched out of his hands. The culprit was a lithe ten year old dressed in a yellow T-shirt with black bike shorts black and yellow sneakers and a yellow helmet. He had thick shaggy fur covering his face, hands, feet, and a long primate like tail which was wrapped around a branch of the tree he hung upside down from.

The couple screamed and ran off while the boy gave a chimp like laugh at his stolen prize.

Not too far from there, a grey armored ball the size of a small truck was accelerating down the street. It rolled forward quickly, crumpling cars and anything else in its path. People were fleeing their vehicles, lest they be caught in its path of destruction. It stopped in front of a bank and revved itself for a few minutes before smashing into it. It unfurled to reveal a large boy with thick metal-like armor plating covering his back, arms, legs, and chest.

"I'm here to make a withdrawal." He said. The teller withdrew a gun from underneath the counter and fired a few shots but the boy simply covered his face with his armored wrists. Once the teller was out of bullets, he smirked.

"Fine, I'll do it myself." He curled up into his ball form and rammed into the safe. He grabbed as much money as possible and then sped out.

On the sidewalk outside people were watching the carnage. One woman in particular was staring inside in fear, until she felt something grab the purse off her shoulder. She looked up and saw another kid, this one having curly red hair and some acne, wearing green and black T-shirt and bike shorts with green and black sneakers with a green and black helmet and black padding on his knees and elbows. He seemed to be walking on what appeared to be a walkway made of yellow energy.

"Thanks for the donation." He called down to her.

The three boys soon met up in the middle of the city.

"Ha,ha. This is a good haul boys." Said the armored one.

The furry one nodded vigorously. "Yeah, this place is a gold mine."

The red haired one had a nervous look on his face. "Alright guys, we got enough. Lets get out of here before trouble shows up."

The armored boy scoffed. "Like who? The police? They can't stop us!"

"I think he was talking about us."

The three looked and saw Night, Link, and Athlete standing a few feet away.

The boys panicked. "Bail, bail!" The armored one yelled to the other two. He rolled up and sped away. The furry one climbed up a lamppost and and leaped onto the roof of a building. The red haired one created a new light road and slid away on it.

"Link, you go after the one on the glowing sidewalk, Night. You take Mr monkey. I'll handle the overgrown bowling ball." Athlete quickly said before running after the the large armored ball.

Link looked at night. "Why does she get to give the orders?" He grumbled.

"She older than us."

Link groaned and they ran after the fleeing villains.

_**"When your a superhero getting around is essential. Time is of the essence and you need a way to get from A to B."** _

Night flew on a shadow bat after the ape like thief. While she had an aerial advantage, he was incredibly agile, running quickly on all fours and leaping from on top of a building to the top of the car and then swinging down the street from lamppost to lamppost.

_**"Some fly, some swing,..."** _

Athlete leaped after the moving ball, each jump managing to cover a good couple feet until she managed to land on top of the moving sphere. She was immediately rolled over and on top of but thanks to her strength managed to keep a grip on it. She entered into a cycle of being rolled to the top before being crushed again and again and again. After a few times she let go and simply ran on top of the ball like a circus bear. She smashed her fist into the shell at full strength, but it was incredibly durable and took no damage from the hit.

"Oh come on!"

_**"Some jump, some run,..."** _

The red haired boy was sliding on his light pathway high up in the sky. He was getting cocky, performing spins and jumping from his pathway and then creating a new one to slide on below it.

_**"And some just make their own way. So what do you do when you can't do any of that?"** _

From the ground below, Link was attempting to run after him, but he kept running into people on the sidewalk.

"Sorry! Excuse me! Trying to get through!"

_**"I'm still working on that."** _

Link managed to get past the crowed and kept running after the redhead, but he soon started to run out of breathe. After a while he was leaning on a bench gasping for air.

Seeing this the red haired thief came down to him and asked concernedly. "Dude, are you Ok?"

Link tried to look as intimidating as possible while trying to take in oxygen. "You...won't...get...away."

The thief shrugged. "Whatever man." He made a new road to slide on but Link grabbed onto the back of his shorts as he slid up away.

Noticing his new passenger, the thief tried to shake him off. Link tried to hold on, but after running for so long he had lost a great deal of stamina ad fell off. He screamed as he fell to the ground.

Night was closing in on the ape like thief when she heard her brother screaming. She turned and saw him falling through the air.

"Link!"

Meanwhile Athlete was still trying to bust through the armored shell of the ball, rapidly punching it to no avail. She too heard her brothers cry and was distracted by it causing her to lose her balance and fall off, Allowing the ball to roll away.

As he fell, all Link could think of was how embarrassing it was that his superhero career was ended by a super villain wearing bike shorts, when he suddenly stopped. A large hand made out of shadows had grabbed him before he could hit the ground.

Athlete and Night came to him. "Hey bro are you alright?" Athlete asked.

"I'm fine." The shadow hand dispersed and he fell the rest of the way down. He picked himself up and looked around at all the devistation that had been caused. "But this place isn't.

* * *

"Ugh, I can't believe we didn't catch those guys."

The three of them were walking back to base after the fight downtown.

"It was pretty bad." Lucy admitted.

"Duh, we were this close to catching them and then they ended up getting away!" Lynn said angrily.

"Because of me." said Lincoln morosely.

"Yeah, because of-." Lynn stopped, realizing what she was about to say. "Oh no, Lincoln it wasn't your fault, we-."

"Yes it was!" Lincoln yelled. "I wasn't able to keep up with them like you guys could. Because of me those speedfreakz are gonna keep being able to steal things."

"Speedfreakz?"

"Yeah. That's what they call themselves. They're a stunt biking crew on the internet. I recognized them from their website." He walked over to the table and entered "Speedfreakz" into the database.

Lucy frowned. "Why does it have a z?"

"Because they're X-treme guys." The table displayed a brightly colored website with images of all three. "The big ones Wheelz, the furry one goes by Prymate, and the dude surfing on the golden wave called himself Dryft. Look, there's even a video." He pressed play.

_On the top of a small hill, three kids recognizable as the speedfreakz were playing around on their bikes. Wheelz was standing on the edge of the cliff with Dryft while prymate was hanging by his hands from a tree. They looked the same except wheelz lacked his shell and Prymate lacked his tail, the fur on his hands and feet were gone, and his hair wasn't as long or shaggy._

_"What's up people? We're the speedfreakz and we're gonna shred down this hill!" Dryft screamed._

_The boys suddenly looked up as the sky turned red and the ground started shaking. Wheelz curled up into the fetal position until the shaking from the ground made him fall and roll down the hill._

_"Wheelz!" Dryft steadied himself best he could as he slid down the hill after his friend. Prymate swung from his branch and leaped after them and that was the last shot before there was a white light and the camera cut out._

"So those guys got their powers from the event just like us." Lynn said.

"Apparently they went from high speed stunts to high speed theft." Said Lincoln.

"Well, we'll need to be on our A-game. The next time these freaks show up, we'll be pressing the brakes on them." Said Lynn.

The other two left, leaving Lincoln alone.

"Yeah...unless I can't get up to speed." He mumbled sadly.

* * *

Lincoln walked through the base until he came to Lisa's lab.

He poked his head in. "Lisa?"

Lisa was currently examining the crystal they had gotten from Aquario. It was locked inside a large clear metal tube. "I'm a bit preoccupied at the moment."

Lincoln stepped into her lab. "It's kinda important."

Lisa turned her head to look at him. "More important than examining this shard that somehow granted a psychotic fishman the power to create an army of Amphibious ocean monstrosities?"

"Yes!" He said. "Look, today I had a serious problem. We were fighting some super powered thieves and they got away because I wasn't able to keep up with them."

"I fail to see how that's my problem."

"It's a problem because I can't keep up with the rest of the team!" Lincoln yelled. Then he calmed himself. "Lori, Luna, and Lola can fly. Leni and Luan can swing from buildings. You and Lucy can make constructs to get places. Lana can get around with her animals and Lynn can just jump and run everywhere. But my powers don't help at all when it comes to getting around and that's hurting my ability to be useful in a fight."

"I understand that this is a serious problem. But again, I don't know what you think I can do about it." Lisa said.

"Well, I was thinking that maybe you had some kinda high speed bike or a jetpack or something that would let me get around easier."

"While you're mobility crisis is a serious issue, I have multiple other projects that require my attention. This crystal especially is of extreme-"

"I'll give you half of my leftover Halloween candy." Lincoln said abruptly.

"Deal." Lisa walked away from the crystal and led him over to a large area filled with grey and green metal containers.

"I should have something here that should be able to help with your mobility issue." She started searching through boxes. "Let's see, genetic scrambler, nano-molecular converter, device to convert water to Lemon-lime soda. AH-HA! This should do."

From within the box, Lisa withdrew a set of metal boots with green lines.

Lincoln was unimpressed. "Metal shoes? I don't think those are gonna help me with going faster. "He said.

Lisa rolled her eyes. "Typical. Simply seeing what is right in front of your eyes. Behold!" She pressed on the side of the top of the shoe causing it to morph. The bottom shifted so there were now three wheels that floated in the middle of the bottom instead of being attached and the sides shifted into small turbines.

He got a confused look on his face. "You want me to wear roller skates?"

Lisa face palmed. "I hoped you would be more observant. These aren't any mere "skates". These are a pair of high speed, mag-lev wheel boots with powered thrusters. These boots are made to enhance the natural speed of the wearer up to 350 mph. They are the pinnacle of speed enhancement technology!"

Lincoln began to grow excited. "Are you saying these boots will give me _super speed?_ "

"If by "super speed" you mean speed above the range most humans are capable of, then yes."

Lincoln was excited beyond words. Next to super strength and flight, super speed was that one comic book power he had always wanted. "Lisa this is great! This'll definitely help me catch those Speedfreakz" Lincoln snatched the boots and ran off.

"Lincoln wait, the boots haven't been properly tested yet!" She yelled to him, but he was already gone. "Oh well, at least I'll be able to gauge their efficiency

* * *

The Speedfreakz were at it again. They were tearing up the city and stealing practically everything in sight. Wheelz had smashed into most of the banks in the city and Prymate had snatched dozens of necklaces, phones, wallet, and rings. Dryft had seemed to be less focused on stealing and was mostly doing tricks on his light street. They were currently in the middle of a road, counting up their loot.

"Man, this is almost too easy." Wheelz said as he counted all his ill-gotten money. He turned to dryft who was just leaning against a street sign. "Your pretty light today Dryft."

"I didn't feel like taking anything." Dryft said coolly. "Dude, this is boring. We could do some insane stunts with these powers Wheelz and instead we're wasting them on heists?"

"Come on Dryft, This is the ultimate stunt. Blasting through downtown traffic, swinging from buildings, gliding over an entire city. We don't even need stupid bikes any more!"

"Yeah, but this feels kinda wrong." Dryft said nervously.

"Relax. You worry too much. The cops can't touch us, our folks can't scream at us to stop messing around anymore. The only people who can really do anything is that stupid-"

"L-force!" Screeched Prymate.

"Yeah, exactly."

"No, _L-force_!"

They looked over and realized that Night, Athlete, and Link were back.

Wheelz smirked. "I got a plan. Scatter!" The trio split off into different directions again.

Athlete thought for a second. "Okay, This time I'll get chimpy. Night you try and stop the rolling wonder-"

"Athlete, hold on. Let me go after wheelz." Link asked.

Athlete looked at him worriedly. "Are you sure bro? That guys like a mix between a tank and a motorbike."

"Psssh. With Lisa's speed boots, I can keep up with anything." He said cockily.

Athlete rolled her eyes. "Uh-huh. Fine. You go after the big guy and I guess Night can get the glowing street guy."

"Dryft."

"I am not calling him that." She ran off and jumped to the top of a building to catch up with primate.

Night grabbed Link to keep him from going "Link, my targets power is focused on light, which may make it difficult for me to stop him. And you don't have the power needed to stop wheelz. Maybe we should switch."

Link brushed her off. "Relax Night. I can handle this. You just make sure you get your guy."

"Sigh." Night conjured a bat and flew after Dryft.

Lincoln stood their with an overconfident look on his face. "Okay Wheelz, get ready to be put in the slow lane."

He pressed the top of the boot and got into a running position.

Nothing happened.

Frowning, he pressed the button again, but still nothing. Starting to get frustrated, he continued pressing the button to no result. He bent down to look at the boot-

And was shocked when he was blasted forward at intense speed!

The wind hit his face so hard he could barely see. His skin felt like it was being peeled off. His entire body was being pushed forward by the strength of the boots.

Using all of his strength he managed to slightly open his eyes and saw he was quickly gaining on Wheelz. Suddenly Wheelz rolled to the right while Link continued forward down the road.

"NO!"

Elswhere, Night was flying after Dryft. He continued running down his roads as fast as possible. She erected some Shadow barriers in front of him, but his roads light caused them to dissipate. She followed Dryft until he crafted a road that ended at the side of a building. Night gave a small smile, sure she had him now, until he got to right in front of the building and then he held out his hand and a new road appeared that went up the buildings side, allowing him to maneuver upward.

"Didn't see that coming." Night said. She looked forward and saw she was about to hit the side of the building.

"Dang it."

SMACK!

In another part of the city, Athlete was chasing after Prymate on the top of a building. While she was able to keep up with him in speed, he was still more agile and managed to continue leaping out of her way. He jumped off the side of the building and swung off a traffic light stand to the ground.

Athlete moved to the edge and looked down.

"Where are you monkey-boy?" Suddenly she was hit in the face by a thick brown substance. "Uggh!"

Prymate chuckled in glee and scooped up another handful of mud to toss at her.

Enraged, Athlete jumped from the building and landed in a crater in front of Prymate.

"Cute." She said, wiping the mud off her face. "Lets see how funny it its when I rip off your tail!"

Before she could make good on that threat, the ground started rumbling. She looked over and the last thing she saw before blacking out was a massive armored ball bearing down on her.

* * *

Link was still blasting down the city streets. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't manage to get his hands close enough to the boots to turn them off. He had to do something soon, or he'd keep going until he fell into the ocean!

Looking ahead, he saw a stop sign coming up on his right. That gave him an idea.

He reached behind his back and withdrew his staff. He waited until he was close enough and shot a grapple line from his staff onto the sign. After moving a few more feet, he was stopped by the line.

As quickly as possible, Link smacked his hand against the top of the shoes, causing the engines to deactivate and the wheels to retract.

"Ahhh, finally." He said, relieved. He looked around but couldn't see any sign of Night or Athlete. He pressed his communicator. "Night, 'lete? Either of you there?"

From the device, Nights monotone voice emerged. _"Link?"_

"Night, hey, I'm gonna need a lift."

_"Funny, I thought you had everything handled."_

Hearing his arrogant words thrown back at him made Link blush in shame. "I know, I was being stupid. Right now we got to find Athlete and make a new plan.

His communicator went silent.

"Night? Whats the matter.?"

_"I...haven't managed to get in contact with Athlete."_

Link started to panic. "What? Night, _Lucy,_ what are you saying? What happened to Lynn?"

* * *

In the middle of a scrapyard filled with rusting bikes and broken machines, Athlete was tied up by a bent bar of metal and struggling to get out.

Wheelz was in front of her laughing gleefully. "I can't believe it! We actually caught one of them!."

Athlete frowled. "Laugh while you can, you overgrown armadillo. When I get out of here..."

"You're not. Trust me." Wheelz sneered.

She smirked. "Whatever. Even if I don't bust out of here in time, my team will come for me."

A nasty grin appeared on wheelz's face. "That's exactly what I'm hoping for."

Dryft was getting extremely nervous, sweat starting to pour down his face. "Okay man, don't you think this has gone too far? Smashing stuff up is one thing, but we never said anything about kidnapping anyone."

"Relax Dryft, we're not gonna keep her here." Wheelz assured him. "We're just gonna wait till her little teammates show up and then put the hurt on them. Then everyone'll get the message: No one messes with the Speedfreakz" He turned to Prymate who was gnawing on an old tin can. "Mate, come on. Lets go on lookout."

The two left to prepare for the fight, leaving dryft and Athlete by themselves.

Dryft gave her a pained expression. "Look, I'm sorry about this."

Athlete rolled her eyes. "Yeah right."

"I am! I didn't like helping these dudes commit crimes-"

"Then why are you?" Athlete asked.

Dryft rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Well, you know how it is. These guys have been my best friends since we were in diapers. I can't just bail on them."

"No offense, but if your friends are asking you to do stuff like this you don't like, then maybe these guys aren't really your friends." Athlete pointed out.

Dryft didn't respond. He stared thoughtfully at the ground until he walked off to join his friends. Unbeknownst to him, Athlete had managed to slightly move part of her bindings.

* * *

"Lincoln what do we do?" Lucy asked.

Lincoln wasn't so sure of that himself. After scouring the area Lynn had been fighting in, they were forced to accept that she wasn't there anymore. They had found no clues or anything that might give them her location.

Lincoln felt disgusted with himself. He'd been so focused on speed and getting himself to move around more easily that he had completely lost track of the mission.

His eyes widened.

 _Lost track!_ of course.

"We can find her with the tracker in her suit!" Each member of the team had two trackers in them. One in their L-belt and one sewn into the fabric of their suits for exactly this situation.

Lincoln pressed some buttons on the table and it displayed a location just outside of the city.

"Okay Lucy, I'm gonna go and get Lynn. You stay here and let the others know what happened."

"No." Lucy said with an angered tone. "Let me go. I'll bring my wrath upon those thieves who dared to capture our sister."

"I can't. Every second we wait here, the more likely Lynn might be getting hurt. I can sneak in there without being seen."

"Not better than me." Lucy argued.

"Maybe, but I have to do this. I got Lynn into this mess and like it or not, I have to be the one to save her. Besides, one person will be able to sneak around easier than two"

"And how are you going to get there?" She asked. "Please don't say the speed shoes again."

"That's the only way I can get there in time." He said.

"Sigh. I may not agree with your idea, but I respect your commitment. Very well, I'll wait here. But be careful brother. I would hate for you to become a bloody smear smear on the side of a brick wall."

Lincoln grimaced. "Thanks Lucy."

* * *

Link once again raced down the street at ultra sonic speed. He was trying his best to maneuver himself, but it felt like the boots were locking his feet in one place. Luckily the street he had chosen was going in the direct route to Lynn's Location.

He was just contemplating how maybe he was getting better with the shoes, when he saw a car appear in his path. He hit it at full speed causing him to fly into the air and the shoes to fall off his feet.

Link flew through the air screaming in terror. His powers and the date from his mask were unfortunately showing him that at the rate he was going, he would end up a pavement pizza. Screaming and flailing his arms around, he did the only thing he could think of and grabbed his staff off his back. He squeezed it as hard as possible, accidentally pulling on it downward.

Suddenly his staff extended all the way down to the ground and the bottom embedded itself into the ground. He grabbed onto it, stopping to looked down and saw that he had stopped a high distance from the ground. He gulped nervously and, seeing no other choice, pulled downward on his staff again.

The staff began to pull him down at a slow speed. He tried tugging harder and it increased his falling speed. Soon he had completely pulled himself all the way down to the ground.

Amazed, Lincoln glanced at his staff. He knew it could extend but he had no idea it could manage something like that.

"I should really read the manual on this thing." He said. Then he got an idea. He remembered watching a sport with Lynn where the competitors propelled themselves forward by plunging poles into the sand. His staff wasn't that much different than those...

He took a deep breath, thinking about how crazy he had to be to actually try this, and crouched into a running position with his staff in his right hand. Then he ran forward for a few seconds before jumping into the air and tugging his staff downward.

He was immediately shot forward by the end of his staff. He tried tugging upward on the staff causing it to retract from the bottom. He freefalled for a few minutes before extending it downward again and propelling himself farther forward.

It was amazing, the feeling of being shot into the air and then frefalling made him feel lighter than air. He could feel the wind on his face and get a perfect view of the city. Forget flight and super-speed. This was the best way for a superhero to travel.

He kept vaulting himself the way until he ended outside a scrapyard. He checked his communicator and saw that Lynn's signal was coming from inside. He pushed open the gate.

He wandered through the piles of discarded rusting metal,yelling out. "Athlete! Athlete! Are you here?"

Then he heard grunting coming from behind a pile of old car batteries. He walked over and found her struggling against what looked like a metal bar wrapped around her body.

"'Lete! Oh man, I'm so glad you're okay." He walked over and gave her a big hug.

Athlete frowned. "Where's the rest of the team?"

Link let go of her. "Not here. It's just me."

Athlete looked unimpressed. "Wow, some rescue."

Link glared at her. "Hey! I happen to have done an okay job. I mean, I got in here and haven't seen one sighn of those-" He suddenly heard a chuckle come from behind him. He turned around and saw all three Speadfreakz standing behind him. "Speedfreakz." Link squeaked out.

The three of them stepped menacingly towards him. "Look at this guys. The L-force sent their weakest member to come find us." Wheelz said.

"Hey!" Link yelled.

Wheelz laughed meanly. "Well, you found us tough guy. Now what are you gonna do?"

Seeing no way out, Link withdrew his staff and twirled it intimidatingly. "I guess the only thing I can do."

The three boys laughed, but what none of them realized was that Athlete had been slowly managing to brake her bonds and with massive SNAP! She broke the bar off her body.

All of them, including Link were surprised.

"What? You didn't seriously think that hunk of scrap metal could hold me did you?" She asked.

The speedfreakz panicked. "Let's get out of here!" Said Dryft. And they sped off.

"Oh no they don't. Link, you stay here. I'm gonna bag these freaks." Athlete said.

"Wait Lynn, let me help."

"Haven't you "helped" enough today."

Link winced, but he didn't let that stop him. "I know I messed up, but trust me I got the transportation issue down. And besides you can't catch all three at once."

Athlete huffed, and said. "Fine. But if you screw up again, don't expect me to bail you out."

"Not gonna need it." He activated his staff and vaulted after Prymate.

Athlete was momentarily surprised by her brothers new skill before regaining her senses and following wheelz.

Link vaulted through the yard and over piles of junk, his new skill easily helping him keep up with the simian supervillain. Prymate started getting nervous, and tried leaping in a haphazard manner in order to try and lose him. After a few minutes he didn't see him, and assuming he had lost him, gave out one of his ape like laughs before running headfirst into Links extended staff that the boy had set to lie in wait after getting out of Prymates sight. Prymate crumpled to the ground.

Link stood over his knocked out adversary.

"No more monkeys jumping on the bed." He quipped.

Meanwhile Lynn was jumping after Wheelz. She saw he was headed towards the exit and threw an old motorbike into the scrap pile next to the exit, causing it to collapse and block the way. Wheelz diverted himself down another path. Seeing where he was heading, Lynn ran to the place where he would end up rolling to. Soon, he came barreling down that way, but this time Lynn was ready. She activated the cleat spikes in her shoes, dug them into the ground and stood in wait. The moment Wheelz hit into her, she held him with all her might and lifted him into the air. She then smashed the ball into the ground again and again and again trying to effect the person inside.

Inside his metal shell, Wheelz was beginning to become nauseous from being brought up and down so many times. His skin started turning green.

After shaking Wheelz up and down over 50 times, Athlete threw him into the largest pile of junk she could find. He collided with the mountain of metal and stayed down.

Athlete cheered. "Strike!"

She saw Link vaulting towards her and arrive on the ground next to her.

"Prymate is taking a nice long nap." He said proudly.

Lynn gave an impressed whistle. "Not bad. I made sure wheelz is gonna be flat for a while."

Then they heard a noise from behind a scrap pile. They checked it out and found Dryft.

He freaked out when he saw them and fell to the ground. "Please don't hurt me man! I didn't want to steal anything! I just wanted to do cool stunts."

Link looked at Athlete. "What should we do with him?"

Athlete stared at the kid on the ground and sighed. "Just let him go."

Dryft smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah, sure. Just from now on, use your powers for your stunts and not pulling off heists okay?"

"Oh yeah! Absolutely! It's a clean slate from now on!" With that he crafted a road and ran into the sky.

"You think that was the right call?" Link asked.

Athelete shrugged. "Eh, he wasn't such a bad guy. "

Link looked at her apoligetically. "Hey Lynn, I'm really sorry about getting you captured."

"Ah, it's okay bro. You may have majorly screwed up, but you made up for it. And you found a way of getting around on that fancy Pogo stick of yours."

"Ha-Ha. very funny." Link said sarcastically.

"Thanks. Now lets head home. I'm hungry."

Link smiled."Gladly." He pulled out his staff. Said excitedly "Race you!" Then he vaulted away.

Athlete grinned. "Your on." And she leaped off in pursuit of her brother.

**"When your a superhero, you have to find a way to get around. Sometimes you just need to make one. Sometimes you always have one and just need to figure it out. And I can definitely say that I've figured out mine."**

* * *

The next day Lisa was still studying the crystal in her lab when Lincoln walked in.

"Hello brother. I trust your here to thank me for the technology I so graciously gave you?" She said.

"Actually...I'm came to give you these." Lincoln nervously held up a box of the boots charred remains he recovered after he crashed.

Lisa was flabbergasted. "What happened?!" She asked angrily.

"Well, there was a crash and I-whats that Lori? Mission Alert for just me? Sorry, Lisa I gotta go!"

"Lincoln!" Lisa yelled at his retreating back. She sighed and looked down at the smoldering wreckage of her invention. Then she pulled back her sleeve and spoke into her communicator. "Note to self: Reduce thrust when working on designs for mag-lev boots 2.0.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here it is, The next L-force chapter. This was a difficult one for me but I managed to get it you all like it. Now for the notes!
> 
> Lincolns transportation-In case you couldn't tell, I based his staff vaulting on the way chat noir gets around in miraculous ladybug, by extending it upward and then retracting it. I originally planned for him to use his power to find easier paths but then realized that wasn't as good. Plus it taps into the idea that his staff does a ton of stuff he doesn't know, mainly because he hasn't fully read the manual, (give him a break, he's 11 and it's over 600 pages.)
> 
> Speedfreakz- At first they were just supervillains in armor with superspeed, but then I realized how bland that was, so I decided to make them all have a unique method of transportation. They are based on the bike gang from "Hand me downer" Wheelz's power is based on cannonbolt from ben 10 because in his image he's a really big kid. Prymate is basically like that because all I noted about flat tire was his hair covered his eyes and he had long limbs like a monkey. Dryft is obviously rusty and his powers were a combined influece of suggestions from Yellowpikman88 and zexo87. Thanks guys


	9. Issue-5 How I Met The Monster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For questions about my stories or ideas, visit my Tumblr at https://l-egionaire.tumblr.com

* * *

_In front of a down and out decrepit looking house a white van pulled up. From inside came a burly angry looking man wearing a blue jumpsuit with two large metal tanks attached to a sprayer holstered to his back. On his chest was a name tag that read "Frank"._

_Frank walked inside and looked around the house. The whole place was covered in layers of dust and looked like it hadn't been lived in for years. The client who'd called him had asked him to come and spray out the basement, but from the looks of the place he couldn't understand why. He figured it might be better to just have the whole place refurbished._

_Frank walked around until he found the door that lead to the basement and climbed down. The basement was even worse. Everything was broken down and the entire floor was swathed in sheets of cobwebs that hung almost like gossamer curtains across the room._

_Frank grimaced. He'd hated bugs throughout most of his life, but spiders were absolutely the worst. The horrible eight eyes, the disgusting fangs, the way they just hung in wait for their pray like serial killers. They were awful!_

_Grimacing, he got to work. First, he pulled a gas mask over his face, then he walked over to the wall and tugged on a cord to open the rusty basement windows on the top of the wall. Finally, he removed the sprayer and began to spray the gas throughout the room._

_Above Franks head, out of his line of sight, was a small spider web with a large purple spider in the center. The spider climbed off its webs and slowly lowered itself down on a strand of webbing until it was right above Franks head. Then it detached the web and fell into his hair._

_For a few minutes frank didn't even notice. Then he began to feel an itchy feeling going down the back of his neck. He reached back and felt nothing, so he scratched and continued spraying. Then he began to feel it going down the top of his forehead. He looked up and saw a spider crawling over the eyepiece on his mask._

_He screamed. He immediately tried swatting away at the spider, his hands swinging erratically around, knocking over furniture, hitting into antique objects and knocking off his name tag. Frank kept trying until he accidentally knocked the gas mask on his face askew allowing the gas to pour in._

_Frank began to choke. The gas filled his lungs causing every breathe he took to burn. He tried reaching to fix his mask, but by that point his muscles had begun to weaken and he didn't have the strength. Soon his head started to fog up and his legs lost all feeling causing him to collapse._

_Hazy and with warbled vision, Frank saw the spider in front of him. Strengthened momentarily by his anger he swatted the spider across the room._

_Just as Frank began to lose consciousness, the ground began to rumble and the windows on the top of the basement wall erupted with red light that flooded the room. As it did, franks body seemed to dissolve into the cloud of gas. Across the floor the spider began to twitch and one of its legs began to grow larger…._

* * *

At the Loud House, the kids were crowded around the T.V. watching the latest episode of _The Dream Boat._ It was the last episode of the season and the siblings had been waiting weeks for it. Their eyes were glued to the screen waiting to hear the winner.

 _"And tonight's winner of the Dream Boat is-."_ Suddenly the picture cut as it turned to news.

"NO!" Lynn shouted.

"Come on!" Lola cried.

"What so important they had to stop our show?" Lincoln asked.

The answer came in the form of an anchorman standing outside of a crashed police SWAT truck.

_"This just in. The notorious Jack Specter AKA Specter has just escaped custody."_

"WHAT?!" The Loud Kids yelled.

_"After his defeat by the L-force, Jack was handed over to the police and held in a high security holding facility until they moved him to a more permanent location after his open and shut court case. While in captivity, he was sedated in order to keep him from using his spectral powers. But, during his movement to a permanent prison, a malfunction in the system caused him to regain consciousness and phase through the truck he was being moved in, allowing him to escape and causing a failure in the trucks engines, nearly taking the lives of the driver and guards. Thankfully, there were no casualties, but Specter remains at large. More details will be released as the story unfolds…"_

Having heard enough, the team immediately headed into the backyard and into their lair.

"I can't believe Specter escaped!" Lori said as they arrived into the meeting room.

"Well, to be fair the guy could walk through walls." Lincoln pointed out.

"Indeed. Since we first handed Specter over to the authorities, I've been concerned that there would be difficulty in containing him. His phasing abilities make him difficult to contain." Lisa said.

"Then why didn't you say anything?" Lynn asked.

"I assumed it was obvious."

Lori groaned. "Okay so what do we do now? We don't know where specter is and even if we did, what's to keep him from escaping again?"

"Actually I've been working on that. If you would follow me." Lisa led the rest of the team into her lab. She pressed a button on her communicator and a large tube holding the crystal that had previously belonged to Aquario slid down from the ceiling.

"Ever since we acquired this object, I've been doing countless test on it in order to determine its origin and properties and I've gotten some interesting results. Judging by its composition and size I would say that this crystalline fragment originates from the outer regions of space."

"You mean it's some kind of alien thing?" Lincoln asked excitedly.

"No, no. By my best guess, it was originally a piece of space debris, such as an asteroid or meteorite that was caught in the same cosmic event that granted us our powers. It most likely absorbed a great deal of the energy from the storm, thus explaining how it was capable of empowering Aquario and his army."

"That's interesting Lisa, but how does that help us with our Specter situation?" Lori asked impatiently.

"Well Lori, with some minor experimentation I've found that by refining fragments of the meteorite, it can have some interesting effects." She walked over to her desk and grabbed a test tube filled with multi-colored glowing liquid. She pressed another button on her communicator and a metal wall sprung up in the middle of the lab. She uncorked the vial and poured a small amount down the wall. Then she grabbed a spherical device sitting on her worktable. "I developed this to mimic Specters phasing abilities, to use in our training to prepare in case we face someone with his powers again." She demonstrated by pressing a button on it and then phasing her hand through the table.

Her siblings "oooohed" in wonder.

"Now observe." She went over to the wall and tried walking through, but instead smacked into it face first.

Now the team was even more interested. "It can negate specters powers!" Lori realized.

"Indeed. The energy of this fragment, when superheated, treated with certain chemicals, and applied to a surface, appears capable of causing unbound molecules to bind together."

"What does bonding have to do with walking through walls?" Asked Leni.

"It means it will make intangible things tangible." Lisa explained. Seeing Leni still didn't get it, she sighed and said. "It makes the air hard."

"Oh."

"And this is just one application I've found for this substance. This will go a long way in assisting in our super heroic endeavors. " Lisa said.

"Good job Lisa. But we still have to actually find specter." Lori pointed out.

"Not a problem. I have taken the liberty of looking through specters personal records and found that he was the owner of several different properties scattered throughout Royal Woods. He purchased a number of supposedly haunted buildings to use for his investigative program." She pulled up multiple holo-screens on her communicator and transferred them to her sibling's communicator's.

Lori nodded. "We'll split up and check out these places. If we find something, we'll ring the horn and get the others to come to our location. Luna and Luan you take the first spot. Lynn and Lucy you take the second. Lana and Lola the third. Me, Leni and Lisa will check out the largest and Lincoln you check out the last."

Lincoln was shocked. "You want me to go and check the place out alone?"

"It's the least likely possible location for him to hide out. Besides, with your light grenades you have one of the few weapons that can actually harm him. Should you encounter Specter, you should be able to hold him off until the others get there." Lisa explained

Lincoln was excited. He knew there was probably a low chance he'd run into specter, but he was grateful for the chance to go out into the field on his own for the first time.

"Okay everyone, let's suit up and head out. We're finding Specter and tossing him back into jail where he belongs!"

And thus the team moved out, heading to each of their locations on the hunt for Specter.

* * *

After vaulting across the city for almost an hour, Link finally reached his location.

He stopped momentarily to catch his breath after moving for so long. "Whew!" He sid, mopping sweat off his face. "Well this should be the place." Then he looked at the building and his breath caught in his throat.

The building in front of him was an old decrepit looking house. Moss covered most of the outside, the paint was chipped and faded, and the windows were almost all broken.

A chill went down his back. He didn't know whether it was his inclination for ghost hunting shows or the fact he was hunting a spectral villain, but this place gave him the creeps.

Mustering up his courage, Link pushed his legs to move forward. "I'm a superhero. Superheroes don't get creeped out by scary looking houses." He mumbled fearfully.

He wobbled up to the front porch and tried the doorknob. He was alarmed to find that it was unlocked.

Was Specter here? Should he call the team? Part of him wanted to, but he knew he had to make sure. The last thing he needed was his sisters thinking he'd gotten spooked and called them because the front door was accidentally left open.

Unfortunately the inside wasn't much better than the outside. The entire front hall had a layer of dust and grime covering everything and there was almost no light coming into the house.

Link dug around in his utility belt and withdrew a flash grenade. He held it up in his hand, ready to fire the moment he saw any sign of trouble. Slowly he started going into the house, his eyes darting around nervously. Every step he took caused the floorboards to groan and creek.

"Hello? Is anyone here? I'm with the L-f-AAAAUUUGGHHH!" The floor beneath him collapsed. He fell for a few feet before landing safely on a soft, stretchy surface.

Link let out a sigh of relief. "Good thing I landed on this stretchy carpet." Then he looked down and saw that what he landed on was definitely _not_ a carpet.

He had landed in a massive spider web carefully spun to encompass the entire length of the basement it was strung over. It was filled with all sorts of things from old timey radios and lamps to some torn faded pants glued to its surface.

Link pulled at his arm to try and peel himself off the web, but it was like being stuck in syrup. No matter how hard he pulled the web wouldn't give. And to make matters worse, he couldn't even reach his communicator to call for help. He was just thinking that things couldn't possibly get any worse, when he noticed a massive shadow form crawling out to him.

It was a spider. And not just a regular spider. This spider was bright purple and about the size of a large dog. Its massive mandibles clicked menacingly. It had eight beady eyes lined around its head and six long legs tipped with sharp points.

The creature crawled unfettered across the web to where Link was. It stared down at him, its eye's reflecting an image of him quivering in fear, before raising one of its razor sharp legs.

Link had just enough time to let a loud scream of pure terror before it brought the leg down.

SHINK! SHINK! SHINK!

Quick as a wink, the spider sliced through the web that had been holding Link in place causing him to fall the rest of the way to the ground.

Link looked up in confusion as the spider scuttled to the edge of the web and crafted a new web line to lower itself down. Soon, it was right in front of him.

Looking closer, Link saw that the spiders eyes were widened in excitement and it was waggling its back end like a dog would wag its tail. He realized that it was acting the same way that Charles would when he wanted play.

Curious, Link picked up a rusted decorative egg on the ground and lobbed it over the spider's body.

Immediately the spider scuttled after it and within minutes had returned with the item clutched in its pincers.

Link was astonished. Emboldened, he put out his finger and rotated it in a 360 degree circle. "Roll over."

The spider rolled its entire body around until it was on its legs again.

Feeling excited now, Link slid his forefinger across his throat. "Play dead!"

The spider jumped until it was on its back and then splayed out its legs.

Link laughed. He and his sisters had three pets back home, but he could definitely say that this was a new experience. He walked over to the spider and began to scratch its belly. "Who's a good spider? You are! Yes you are!"

The spider cooed at him as he scratched its belly.

While he was scratching it, Link noticed something red and white stuck to the spider's belly. He reached out and grabbed hold of it. It was stuck firmly, but with a strong tug he managed to yank it off and he found that it was a red and white nametag with the name **FRANK** written in thick black letters.

"Whoa, where did this come from?" He wondered. Then he smiled. "Frank, huh? Is that your name boy?" He asked. The spider clicked its mandibles joyfully. "Okay then. Frank it is."

Before he and "Frank" could continue to play, Link's communicator beeped. He pressed it and answered. "Hello?"

_"Link? It's Freak. We scouted through all the other locations and haven't managed to find anything. Anything unusual at your end?"_

Link's eyes darted to the spider laying upside down on the ground hoping for more belly rubs. "No, nothing unusual here."

_"Then head back to base. We'll meet up and think of a new approach to finding Specter."_

Link sighed. "Copy. I'll meet you there." He deactivated his communicator and walked over to Frank. "Sorry boy. I'm gonna have to go."

Frank flipped upright and crooned morosely. It crawled up and nuzzled itself against his leg.

Lincoln looked at him sadly. "I know, I wish you could go too, but my sister Leni has a serious fear of spiders."

That was an understatement. Leni had a near panic attack when she saw anything remotely resembling a spider. If she was terrified of little ones, then one the size of a Doberman puppy might cause her to have a seizure.

Link walked around until he found the door back to the second floor and headed up. Once the door shut, a green vapor began to pour up from the floor and seep over to Frank. Seeing the vapor, Frank panicked and quickly crawled up towards the hole in the middle of the ceiling.

After managing to navigate around the hole, Link opened the front door. Just as he was about to close it, he felt something tug on his leg. He looked back and saw that Frank had managed to grab it with a web line from his behind.

"Oh come on Frank. I told you, I can't take you home." Lincoln said.

Frank clicked his pincers fearfully and then crawled forward to Lincoln, burrowing his face into his knee. From the way he acted Link could swear that the arachnid was…..afraid. Then again if he had to live in a place this creepy, he'd probably not want to be stuck living there alone either. But he still couldn't take him.

"Sorry buddy. I just can't." Frank then did something that Lincoln had no idea spiders could do: He gave him the puppy dog eyes.

"No! I- I can't-"But it was hopeless. Link couldn't say no to those big pleading eyes. Even if there were 8 of them.

"Uggh! Okay. You can come with me." Overjoyed. Frank hopped into Link's arms. Now carrying his new passenger Link vaulted the two of them back to L-force base.

Unknown to Link, in the space where he had been standing, the green gas from the basement appeared and congregated until it formed into a large humanoid shape…..

* * *

Arriving back in L-force base, Lincoln snuck down into Lana's terrarium but unfortunately found that she had already taken over the place and was currently playing with all the loud pets in their enhanced forms.

Determined, he wrapped Frank up in his cape and tried to shuffle past her without being seen, but as she was feeding Walt birdseed she spotted him out of the corner of her eye.

"Hey Linc." She noticed the bundle he had in his cape. "What you got there?"

Lincoln thought it over. On one hand, his younger sisters weren't exactly the best at keeping secrets (Superheroism non counting) and he really couldn't have this leak out, but Lana was one of his siblings he got along best with and he felt he could trust her.

"Check out what I found at Specters old hideout." He released his cape bundle, allowing Frank to fall to the ground.

Lana was mystified by the spiders slimy fangs and eight beady black eyes. "So cool! She walked over and examined him before giving him a worried look. "Does Leni know?"

"No, and I'll need you to help me make sure she doesn't-"

Just then Lola walked in. "Guys, Lori wants us all in the meeting room to help find Specter." Then she noticed the spider on the floor. She was enthralled by its glittering black eyes and rich purple exoskeleton. "It's so pretty!" Just like Lana, she walked over to get a closer look. She scratched it's thorax for a few minutes before asking "Does Leni know?"

"No! And the best way to keep her from finding out, is to keep him a secret!"

Soon, all of Lincoln's sisters minus Leni where gathered around Frank, cooing softly and playfully scratching him.

Lincoln looked at Lola angrily. "Nice job keeping it a secret."

"What? I didn't tell Leni" She argued.

Lori finished petting Frank and then turned to look at Lincoln sternly. "You know if Leni finds out about this, she's gonna flip."

"I know. But I couldn't just leave him Lori. He seemed so afraid of being alone." Lincoln said.

Lori sighed. "Fine. But he's your responsibility. And you have to be one to keep Leni from finding out."

"Finding out what?" The others yelped at Leni's sudden appearance. Lincoln swept his cape over Frank to keep him out of view.

"Uuh, finding out that I accidentally tore my suit." He said, quickly ripping a hole in the sleeve of his suit.

"Oh that's no problem. Let me just get my sowing kit." She walked off to her workplace to grab her kit.

The others let out a sigh of relief. "Alright, Lincoln you keep this little guy away from Leni." She said, scratching Frank under his chin. Then she turned to the others "The rest of you take a few minutes to get yourselves together and recharge. Then we'll go out and look for Specter again."

With that, everyone headed off, leaving Lincoln with the nervous and quivering Frank.

"Okay. Just got to keep Frank away from Leni. Shouldn't be too hard." Lincoln said confidently to himself.

* * *

Meanwhile, above ground in the Louds backyard the thick green gas that had appeared in the abandoned house was now billowing around the Loud house. It moved itself around, congregating in large dense clouds around the back door, the dog house, and finally the shed.

Once near the shed, it streamed through the holes in the walls and the flowed down the floorboards and downward through the area of the tubes the team used for transport.

Soon, the gas reached the area where the teams meeting room was and flowed in. Inside the meeting room where Luna, Luan, Lucy, and Lori. They were all currently relaxing on the couch, regaining their energy after the long search for Specter.

While stretching to pop her back, Luna noticed the massive cloud of green gas. "Uh guys, what is that?"

Everyone else immediately noticed the odd vapor.

"Lori did you have too much chili again?" Luan asked.

"I literally told you, that was the chair!" Lori exclaimed

"I don't think that's from Lori." Lucy said nervously.

The gas began spreading itself over to where they where sitting.

"Well whatever it is, I think it might be best to not be so close." Luna said, getting off the the couch and slowly backing away. The others followed suit. The gas seemed to move slightly faster to where they where.

"Did that gas just speed up?" Lori asked, flabbergasted.

"It might be best to make a run for it!" Lucy yelled.

"Hey, I'm the leader!" She calmly turned to the others then flailed her arms in a panic. "RUN!" The girls started sprinting away from the gas, but it immediately sped up to the point where it was trailing just behind them.

"How is this gas cloud chasing us?!" Lori yelled.

"It's like it has a mind of it's own." Lucy pointed out.

"Well, I can definitely say that this situation is _no gas_." Luan joked.

"Seriously dude?!" Luna yelled.

"The puns help keep me from panicking!" Retorted Luan as they continued trying to outrun the cloud.

* * *

While this was going on, Lynn, Lola, and Lana where in the training room working on their battle skills using the rooms training bots, some armed with lasers. Lana was on hops, using his jumping skill to leap up and then flatten the bots and using his tongue to grab a large number of enemies and then smash them across the room. Lola was up in the air, darting around out the fire of the armed bots and returning fire with a barrage of energy blasts.

Lynn was off on her own taking on over a dozen bots by herself. She threw herself shoulder first at some, crushing them under the force of impact. Then at another group she attacked using the fractured pieces of the last, smashing apart the bots with the remains of the fallen. Once there were about half or so left, she smirked and cracked her knuckles. "Time to try out my new move." She said gleefully.

But before she could demolish the last of her ill fated opponents, the rest of their sisters came in, tumbling into the bots.

Lynn yelled in outrage. "What are you guys doing?"

"Trying to outrun the evil death cloud!" Lori answered pointing back to the wave of green now slipping into the room.

The others were shocked. "What the heck is that thing?" Lola asked.

"No idea. It just started coming in. Kinda figured it was best to avoid the mysterious green cloud of evil." Luna said.

The cloud stopped at the entrance to the room. Then it began to swirl and sink into itself until it formed into the shape of a human being. The figure was a large man in a blue jumpsuit with a gas mask strapped onto his face. His eyes had a disturbed look as he looked around the room.

"It's a person?!" Lori yelled out in surprise.

"He must be a superhuman. But why is he here? We've never fought a gas guy before." Lynn said.

"Who cares? Let's just show him the way out!" Lola said. She let loose an energy blast at the man and it shot straight through him, but in the area on his chest where the blast went was a perfect circle that had sides releasing that same green gas. Soon the hole began to shrink until the man was completely back to looking normal.

Lola gulped. "Well that didn't work."

The man held up his arms and they transformed into geysers of gas that blasted the noxious vapor throughout the room. The moment it entered into their mouths the team's eyes and lungs began to burn and they all began giving loud hacking coughs as they to lost oxygen.

"W-*cough*-What is this stuff?!" Luna asked roughly.

"*cough* *Cough* *Cough* I don't know. But it definitely isn't good for us!" Lori wheezed.

The girls struggled to withstand the gas, but every breathe was agony and they could barely manage to stay on their feet.

Lola, still struggling to take a breath, fell from out of the air and fell to the ground, unconscious .

"Lola!" Lana cried out. She too lost consciousness, slipping off Hops back to the floor.

Seeing two of her youngest sisters drop like that caused Lynn to fill with rage. Using all her strength, she stood tall and drew her arms back until they were behind her head. Then, she slammed them together so hard that they created a blast of air so strong it pushed all the gas away and blew the gaseous villain back through the door.

Everyone paused for a moment, savoring the fresh air as it filled their lungs. Lori looked at Lynn and asked. "Since when could you do that?"

Lynn smirked. "It's a new trick I've been working on."

Then Lori remembered her fallen sisters and imediately rushed over to Lola and Lana to check them over. "The'yr okay!" She announced, clearly grateful not to have lost two of her siblings. She grabbed both twins and slung them over her shoulders. Hops, now back in his normal form, hopped onto her head.

"That's good." Lynn said. Then she noticed the gas once again leaking into the room. "Cuz we gotta move!"

* * *

In Lisa's lab, Lincoln and Leni where over in her workstation where she was working to repair the Link suit while his eyes were glued to a side cabinet he'd stuffed Frank into.

"Lincoln?"

"Huh?" Leni looked at him strangely.

"You've been staring at me since we got in here." She gasped. "Do I have something on my face? Is my makeup smudged?" She opened her compact.

Lincoln spared a glance over to Lisa who was currently still running tests on the meteorite fragment.

"No. I, uh, just want to know when my suit will be done." He said nervously.

Leni relaxed. "All I need to do is finish laying down my last layer of material. The thread I need should be in here." She reached for the cabinet Frank was in.

"NO!" Leni stopped and looked at him confusedly.

"Why not?"

He struggled to think of an answer. "Because...because you've been working so hard. Let me get that it for you." He rushed over but before he could reach in, Leni blocked him with her hand.

"It's fine Lincoln. I've got it." She reached inside and began rummaging around for the right fabric. Lincoln gave Lisa a worried glance. For a few seconds he was panicking until Leni withdrew her hand holding a spool of red thread.

"There we go." She said. Lincoln and Lisa let out a sigh of relief. Then Leni took a closer look at the thread she'd taken. "Wait, Wrong thread."

She reached in again and grabbed onto something. She tugged but couldn't get it out. Determined she pulled with all her might and pulled out Frank by one of his legs.

Lincoln and Lisa froze. Leni examined Frank for a few seconds before rolling her eyes and saying. "Real funny Luan. Trying to leave a rubber spider to scare me."

They watched with terrified curiosity as Leni gave Frank an examining prod. "Really life like too." She tried to once again to grab him and Frank scuttled away.

The effect was immediate. The minute he moved, Leni backed away and screamed like a murder victim. Her eyes darted around until they landed on a long metallic piece of scientific equipment. She grabbed it and ran at Frank ready to bludgeon him but Lincoln and Lisa jumped in the way.

"Leni don't!"

"Put down the atomic spectograph!"

Leni looked at them with a confused look. "What are you guys doing? I have to kill the spider!"

"Leni you can't." Lincoln said. He steeled his nerves before saying. "I brought him here."

"WHAT?! Lincoln why would you do that?" She asked, looking at him with disgust.

"Because Leni, he was all alone! He was a afraid! I couldn't leave him like that."

"But Lincoln, he's so hairy, and clawy, and he has so many legs! He's just ick!"

"Maybe if you got to know him better you'd like him. He's a good spider." Lincoln argued.

"All spiders are bad Lincoln!" Leni retorted.

"That is quite untrue. Animal behavior is full of variations." Lisa interjected.

Before the three of them could continue arguing, they heard a number of loud frantic knocks on the door. They opened it to find their siblings all gasping for breath, Lola and Lana slung over Lori's shoulder.

Seeing her siblings in such condition, Lisa sprung into action. She pressed a button on her worktable causing it to slide over and reveal a pair of medical beds with monitors on them. Lori placed the twins on the beds as Lisa looked them over.

"What happened?!" Lincoln demanded.

"Some kind of evil poison gas cloud guy broke into our base!" Lori said erratically.

Lisa pressed a button on her comunicator and a series of small monitors descended from ceilings showing a humanoid shaped glass cloud racing down the hall towards her lab. She pressed another button and a thick steel wall fell in his way.

"Nice job Lisa." Lincoln said.

"That won't hold him long. Gas is a difficult substance to contain." Sure enough small amounts of gas began to slip under the crack.

"Where did this guy come from?" Lincoln wondered

Suddenly one of the screens on the medical beds beeped. Lisa examined it. "It appears they were poisoned by a very potent and high grade pyrethroid." Seeing that none of them understood she clarified. "A pesticide."

"Pesticide? Why would he be turning into that?" Lori asked.

"Well, when we where fighting back in the training room, he made himself solid. He looked kinda like an exterminator." Lynn pointed out

"That sounds familiar." Lisa said. She pulled up a number of holo-screens on her communicator and cycled through them until stopping on the last. "Ah-ha! The property where Lincoln discovered Frank was scheduled to be decontaminated for insects. And the procedure was carried out the night of the event."

"Why didn't you tell us?!" Lori demanded

"It seemed unimportant at the time!" Lisa retorted.

"Well that explains where this dude got his powers, but why's he trying to kill us?" Luna asked.

"Maybe he isn't." Lincoln said, gaining everyone's attention. "When I tried to leave that house, Frank seemed really afraid. Maybe this is why." Something then occured to him. He pulled out the tag he got off of Frank. "That must be where this came from. The exterminator came here by following Frank." They all turned and saw Frank quivering in the corner.

"That is a very likely hypothesis. Which begs the question of what to do next."

"Uh, hello! Just give him the spider." Leni said.

"NO WAY!" The others yelled.

"Leni, we can't do that. Our job is to protect people. We can't just hand Frank over so he can die." Lincoln said.

"Our job is to protect _people_. Not big ugly hairy spider monsters!"

Lincoln glared at Leni coldly. "He's not just a monster, he's my friend. If you can't get that then fine. We'll just stop that guy without you."

Leni was hurt. "Linky..."

"Lisa open the door." Lincoln ordered. "We're gonna stop this guy."

Lisa opened the door and the others rushed out, leaving Leni to watch their retreating forms.

Out in the hall, The Exterminator had managed to seep under the wall and now stood before him in humanoid form. The team stood before him, ready for battle.

"If you want Frank, you'll have to go through us!" Lincoln yelled.

Lori pointed at The Exterminator. "Hit him with everything you've got!"

Each of the team unleashed their power. Lucy threw out a shadow blast, Luna belted out a wave of sound, Lynn cracked a chunk out of the wall and chucked it at him, Lori did the same with her power, Luan inflated her fist and stretched it at him, Lincoln threw an explosive, and Lisa shot several nano tech spikes.

When the smoke from their assault cleared it revealed The Exterminators form. His entire body was littered with holes that hissed green gas but they almost immediately shrank away.

Now more enraged then before, he dissolved his entire body and blasted himself forward in a tidal wave of green noxious gas.

The entire team started choking on the gas. Lynn tried super clapping him away again but due to the wall and the narrowness of the hall, it had no effect. The entire team was trapped as their lungs filled with poison.

From inside Lisa's lab, Leni watched as her siblings were choking and panicked. She wracked her brain on what to do, but couldn't think of a way to save them without succumbing to the gas herself.

She looked around for something that might be able to help and while she was searching a cabinet she once again found the spider hiding.

"AUGH!" She yelled as she backed extremelly far away from it. Seeing it's hairy body and legs she shivered. "How did I not know it wasn't fake?" She wondered. Then a thought occured to her. "That its!" She said excitedly. Then she frowned. "Wait no, it's gone." She said sadly. Then she smiled again. "Oh it's back."

Meanwhile the rest of the team had succumb to the poison cloud, all of them having collapsed to the ground and only a few still concious. Lincoln looked around for any kind of solution but he saw nothing that could help this situation. Then the door to Lisa's lab opened revealing Frank standing in the doorway.

Leni's voice poured out. "Hey, mr gashead. I've got your spider right here."

Lincoln weakly reached out. "Leni...no." He croaked out before his hand weakly fell to the floor.

The Exterminator pulled himself into a humanoid gaseous form and went straight for Frank, but the spider moved backwards into the lab. The Exterminator went straight in after him. Lincoln tried to crawl and follow him, but he was still too weak and collapsed on the ground.

In the lab, The Exterminator looked around for Frank until he saw him in standing in the middle of the floor. He flew down at him and spread himself out, trying to completely engulf the spider, until he realized something was wrong. Frank didn't appear to be moving at all. Looking closer, The Exterminator realized that the spider was actually an intricately woven replica.

Before he could react, a massive blue cloth fell from the above and completely wrapped around the gaseous fiend, sealing him inside.

From out of the corner of the room, Leni came out wearing a gas mask with Frank next to her also wearing a mask.

The others came to and rushed into the lab and were shocked to see Leni, Frank, and the writhing woven mass next to them.

"Leni, What happened?" Lori asked

"I made a fake spider and used it to lure the gas guy into a giant cloth." Leni explained cheefully.

Lisa frowned. "How did you trap an enemy made of gas in a cloth? He should have leaked through the tiny holes in the fabric."

Leni held up a vial of Lisa's meteorite solution. "I rubbed this all over the thread I used to catch him. I remember you saying it would make the air hard and thought it might keep him from getting out."

Needless to say they were all shocked. "You thought of that on your own?" Lynn asked, surprisedly.

"Yep! And I managed to save this little guy." She bent down and patted franks back.

"Frank!" Lincoln ran over and hugged the arachnid. Then he looked up at Leni. "You saved him?"

"Well, it's like you said. It's our job to save people. And I knew how important he was to you guys. I'm really sorry. He's honestly not that bad." Then she looked at him and shivered again. "Okay, no he is. But I shouldn't have just not cared how you felt about him just because I didn't like him."

"No, it was a bit of my fault too." Lincoln admitted. "I knew how you felt about spiders. I shouldn't have brought him home to begin with."

"So what are we going to do with the little guy?" Luna asked.

Lincoln grinned. "I think I might have an Idea."

* * *

After a full day of being treated for the gas poisoning, the team had returned to the abandoned house. After few hours of using their powers to clean up, the whole place was much cleaner and more homey looking.

In the basement, the team watched as Frank respun his web.

"With the Exterminator gone, Frank doesn't have to be afraid of staying here anymore. He can live here for as long as he wants." Lincoln explained to the team.

"Good. Now that we finished getting this place fixed up, we can get back to hunting for Specter." Lori said.

"Seriously? We just got done fighting one untouchable supervillain." Lynn griped.

"The sooner he's in jail again, the sooner we don't have to worry about him skulking around trying to take revenge on us. Besides, with Lisa's fancy new solution we have a way of touching him know." Lori pointed out.

Lynn groaned. "Whatever."

The team headed up the stairs, ready to go. As she was going, Leni noticed Lincoln staring worriedly at Frank.

"What's wrong Linky?" she asked worriedly.

"Oh, its nothing. I'm just sad Frank has to be here all by himself."

"Not to worry male sibling." Lisa said, unknowing to the other two having been standing there listening to their conversation. "Frank should be expecting some company any day now."

"What do you mean?" Lincoln asked confusedly.

"Well, due to the gender of the name on the tag you found attached to Franks thorax you incorrectly identified this spiders gender. "Frank" is quite clearly a female. An expectant one at that."

Leni gasped in horror. "Wait, so you mean..."

"Frank should be expecting to 2 to 1000 spider eggs at a near point in the future."

Leni's Left eye twitched before she screamed. "AUUUUUUUGGGHHHH

* * *

**A few hours later...**

In her lab at L-force base Lisa was using a blowtorch on a small chunk of the meteorite.

She had to admit she was astonished at the properties of such a single stone. Just by being melted down and treated it had managed to contain a human being made of pure gas. She hadn't been lying when she'd said it had dozens of uses.

She walked over to her worktable and grabbed some circuitry. Very carefully she began to wire it through the stone. Once that was done she went and picked up a thin circular headpiece made of grey metal. In the front was a rectangular slot. She inserted the meteorite fragment inside.

Yes, this would work wonders.

"And now." She said aloud. "All I need is a test subject.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now for the notes!
> 
> Episode-Yes, this is clearly based on "Along came a sister." Just like the last two were based on loud house episodes. I try and base these issues somwhat on that.
> 
> Lynns powerclap-New power! I thought it be cool to see Lynn do that whole powerclap thing like the hulk does and I really feel like it's a useful weapon in the teams arsenal.
> 
> Lisa's communicator- Lisa's communciator is something she contently upgrades and updates. Thus it can connect to a lot of the base.
> 
> Specter-Don't worry. We'll see Specter again. I wanted to include that bit both to set up a new plot and to once again have a bit more realisim to the story. The guy could walk through walls, so it would probably be pretty easy to break out of police custody once he regained concioussness.


	10. Issue - 6 Glitch in The System

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For questions about my stories or ideas visit my Tumblr at https://l-egionaire.tumblr.com

**Disclaimer: The Loud House is owned by nickelodeon. I own nothing but the idea for this story.**

* * *

It was nighttime at an office building in Royal Woods. All the employees had gone home and the place was completely silent.

The villain, Specter, phased in through one of the walls. He looked around to check for any signs of people and then floated over to a cubicle He started searching through the drawers and shuffling around all the files. When he couldn't seem to find what he was looking for he went to the next, one repeated the process, and then continued to do so until finally, he found a document in one of desk drawers.

A malicious grin grew over his face as he scanned the document. "Yes." He whispered evilly. "I finally found you!"

BAM!

A chunk of the ceiling crashed down, causing a cloud of dust to kick up, and when it cleared, it revealed the L-force!

Athlete smirked as she cracked her knuckles, both covered in a pair of metal knuckledusters. "Funny. We were about to say the same thing."

Other members of the team were also packing some new gear. Princess had a pair of metal gauntlets on her wrists. Housepet's animals were all wearing a kind of flexible metallic armor. Around Control freaks shoulder was a bandolier of metal orbs connected to each other by magnetism. The rest of team didn't carry any special equipment but they looked just as ready to fight.

Specter snarled before chuckling and saying. "You fools could barely stop me before. What makes you thinks you can now?" He morphed into his shadow form, flew straight at them-

Only to be punched away by athlete!

Specter crashed backwards into a wall. He shook his head a few time before gawking in disbelief. **"How did you do that? You shouldn't be able to harm me. I'm a ghost!"**

"No, you're just some creep who's too used to feeling invincible." Control Freak replied confidently. She focused her power on the balls in the bandolier and hurled them all at Specter. They pounded into him, leaving the spectral scoundrel bruised and annoyed. He managed to float in the air but was quickly grabbed on the arm by a line of Tailor's thread and thrown into the cubicles. Before he could pick himself off the pile of human prisons, Princess flew into the air and then shot herself fist first into him, smashing him into the floor below.

Hurt, beaten, confused, and enraged at getting smacked around, Specter let out a roar and smacked away Princess, but then he saw the rest of the L-force gathered around the hole in the ceiling.

Brainy shaped her nanotech into a wrist blaster and loaded it with a small orb. She shot it at Specter and it latched onto his stomach.

He yelped. **"Uggh! I don't have time for this! I'll deal with you later."** He tried to fly through the floor below him but didn't manage to phase and ended up hitting his head. **"Ow!"**

"No, I don't believe you will be. That device I planted on you is designed to keep you tangible." Brainy said smugly

The villain growled. **"Then I'll just have to get out the old fashioned way!"** He flew towards the door leading into the hallway, smashing through it as he made his way out.

"Now what?" Athlete asked.

Brainy went over to Link and pressed a few buttons on her communicator. Once she was done, the eyeholes on his mask flashed.

"That device I placed on Specter doubles as a tracker. I synchronized it to your mask so you can monitor his location."

Control Freak turned to Link. "Think you can get us to the bottom floor faster than him?"

"Watch me." Link pressed the side of his mask and a full scale map of the building popped up. A bright red dot representing Specter appeared and started moving. He had already made it pretty far down. Link motioned for his sisters to follow him. "Let's go!"

He led them through the halls, each of them moving as quickly as they could. Link focused on the directions provided by the map.

"Okay, A left here. Now a right. Down this way. Okay now through here-."

"Link wait!"

"Stop!"

"Don't-!"

"AUUGGHH"

CRASH!

CRASH!

CRASH!

Unfortunately, Link had been so focused on his heads up display, he hadn't noticed that the door he'd just went through opened up to a stairwell, causing him to barrel forward down a floor of stairs. After almost two minutes of falling he finally landed, face-first, on the bottom of the stairwell. He lifted up his bruised, broken face just in time for his mask to fall off and the lenses to smash against the ground.

"Lincoln!"

He looked up and through his bleary vision, saw his sisters at the top of the last staircase.

"I don't think we're going to beat him to the bottom." Was all he managed to gasp before passing out.

* * *

A half-hour later in Lisa's lab, back at base, Lincoln was having his injuries tended to.

"And that should do it." Leni finished carefully wrapping medical gauze on his knee to match his tenderly bandaged head.

"Thanks Leni." Lincoln said. He looked over to Lisa, who had her back to the others as she examined his mask with a set of nano tech goggles. "Any chance of fixing it?"

She turned around and showed him the cracked and shattered remains of his mask. "Negative. I'm afraid your mask is simply damaged beyond repair."

Lincoln groaned. "So now we can't track down specter."

"I doubt it would matter." Said Lisa, as she tossed the broken face cover into a trash bin. "Even if it was still functioning, Specter will have most likely discarded the tracer by now."

"So, once again, we have no way of finding him." Lori grumbled.

"Chill out Lor. Even if we couldn't get the drop on him, at least now we know our Anti-specter gear works." Luna pointed out.

"I would agree, this was a successful field test of our new equipment. My coating even helped shield my technology from Specter's powers. Though I feel it would have been more effective if we had successfully captured our target." Lisa chimed in.

"I'm sorry guys." Link said, hanging his head in shame. "I guess I'm not used to looking up info and being in the action at the same time."

"Well you need to get used to it." Lori replied harshly. Then, seeing how hard he was taking it, she softened and said. "Look Lincoln, I know it can't be easy to adjust to doing your thing as our intel guy and being in the field. But we need you to be able to step up and perform."

Lincoln looked up slightly and nodded. "Okay."

"Good. Now, it's pretty late so why don't we all just go on to bed?"

The others agreed and they headed over to the tubes, Lincoln still looking disheartened.

* * *

" _ **This superhero gig can be rough. Sometimes, you win, and sometimes, you really mess up."**_

"I'm telling you Clyde, it was a grade-A screw up. A complete superfail." Lincoln told his best friend, as they walked home after school the next morning.

" _ **Fortunately, that's why it's great to have Clyde. It's nice to know that no matter how badly things get, I can always talk about it with my bro."**_

"I don't get why you're so down on yourself Lincoln. It doesn't sound like your sister were mad about it." Clyde said.

"Yeah, but I'm mad about it. I can't afford to make mistakes like that." Lincoln argued.

"You've only been superheroing with them for a month."

"Which is exactly why I can't mess up!" Lincoln snapped. He huffed and said. "Ever since I started going out there with the team, I knew had to give 110% or I'd be back on monitor duty. Which means, I can't afford rookie moves like falling down stairs!"

It worried Clyde, seeing his best friend like this. Being a superhero really seemed to be taking a toll on Lincoln.

"Don't worry so much. I'm sure you guys will catch Specter and soon you'll all be laughing about the whole stair thing."

Lincoln stared forlornly at the ground. "That's what I'm afraid of." They kept walking until they reached the Loud residence.

"Hey, why don't we go and have a few rounds of muscle fish?" Clyde suggested. A few hours of video games might help his friends dower mood.

Lincoln shook his head. "Can't. Lori wanted us to meet up after school to practice with our specter gear. I figure I can try working on dividing my focus." He gave a small grin and tapped the side of his head. "Besides I'd win. Super strategy brain remember?" Since getting his powers, Lincoln hadn't managed to lose one game to his pal.

"Well, that doesn't mean it's not still fun to play." Clyde retorted. Then he got an idea. "Hey, why don't I go down with you and wait until you're done?"

"I don't know about that Clyde." Lincoln rubbed his neck and looked sheepishly at his best friend. "Lori doesn't really like me just bringing you down there. Plus, are you sure you'll be able to handle her in her superhero outfit this time?"

"Lincoln that was a long time ago. Just because I passed out when I first saw Lori in her costume doesn't mean I'll do it again."

Lincoln shrugged. "If you're sure."

The two of them walked over to the shed, went into the tubes, and down into the base, Clyde wearing a big grin, Lincoln still looking a bit disgruntled.

Once they arrived, they headed to the meeting room where the rest of the team was waiting. Once she saw Clyde, Lori's eyebrow raised.

"Why'd you bring him down here?"

"Clyde just wanted to wait down here until we finished training so we could hang out. Right buddy?" When he got no response, Lincoln looked over and saw his best friend was on the floor, unconscious, and with a river of blood streaming from his nose. Lincoln face palmed.

Lucy walked over and gently poked his forehead. Seeing no response, she muttered. "I'll get the smelling salts." Then went to Lisa lab to retrieve them.

Lori pinched the bridge of her nose and then looked at her brother testily. "Lincoln, this is our secret base. Not a clubhouse. Clyde can't just come down here and hang out. We've talked about this."

Before Lincoln could respond, Lucy returned with the box of smelling salts and waved one in Clyde's face until he sprang upward.

"Ugh, what happened?" Clyde moaned. Then he noticed Lori again and his eyes widened, but before he could pass out, Lincoln twirled him around so he was facing the wall.

"Clyde just wants to stay until we're done training. Then we'll go straight to the house. Come on Lori, you know he won't cause any trouble. Right Clyde?" He asked, this time putting serious emphasis on his question.

Clyde shivered and sweated as he tried to ignore the love of his life standing right behind him. "R-right. N-notroubleatall!" He blurted out, trying his hardest to keep his composure.

Seeing that her brother wouldn't let up on this, Lori relented. "Alright. But just until we're done."

"Thanks Lori." Lincoln replied.

"Whatever. Here." She tossed Lincoln a new mask that looked exactly like his old one. "Lisa managed to make you a new mask. Let's head to the training room so you can practice with it."

"Wait, where is Lisa?" Lincoln asked, suddenly noticing the absence of his second youngest sister.

"She said she had some important experiment she was working on in her lab." Lori explained with a shrug before walking off with the others.

Lincoln turned his best friend around. "Okay Clyde. See you once trainings done."

"Wait! What am I supposed to do while you guys are busy?" Clyde asked.

"Why don't you hang out here? I know my setup gets the internet. Maybe you could watch a few videos?" Lincoln suggested weakly before running to catch up with his sisters.

Clyde glanced at the console his friend had suggested and then at the hall that led to the rest of the base.

"I'm in a superhero headquarters and he wants me to watch internet videos? I don't think so." He mumbled, before heading into the hallway.

* * *

"Lisa Loud Experiment log. After postponing our search for specter, I finally have the time to test my neural connectivity device." Lisa paused her recording device and took a moment to glance at the center of her lab where Cliff sat on a stool wearing a thin metal headpiece with a rectangular section in the center. Then, she continued narrating

"While I lack a proper test subject, Cliffs mind should be sufficient to activate my invention. My research into the meteorite shards has given me ample reason to suspect that by using one in my new mental connection band, I can increase the already powerful connection between my mind and my nanotechnology." She went over to her work desk, put down her recorder, and picked up a small remote with a single button. She lowered her finger ready to press it-.

"Hi Lisa." Clyde greeted from behind her.

Lisa was startled and accidently flung her remote into the air. Cliff panicked and leaped off the stool to run away, the headpiece falling off as he ran.

Lisa groaned and turned around to her unexpected visitor. "Hello Clyde."

"What are you working on?" Clyde asked.

Lisa walked over and picked up the headpiece off the ground, while doing so, glaring over at Clyde who had his back to her and was looking over the rest of the lab.

"I _was_ performing a test run on a new invention of mine, but since my test subject ran off, thanks to your ill-timed greeting-." Lisa stopped speaking as an idea popped into her head. Her glare turned into a sly smile. She turned towards Clyde and asked. "I don't suppose you'd like to help?"

Clyde looked away from the test tubes he'd been examining. "Huh? Oh, uh I don't know."

He was wary of helping, no doubt due to horror stories Lincoln told him about Lisa's experiments.

"Please? This experiment is incredibly important and at a critical point." Lisa said.

Clyde still seemed unsure. "Is it safe?"

"Yesssss?" Lisa said, an unconvincing smirk appearing on her face. Seeing that Clyde wasn't sold on the idea, she pulled out one last stop. "This experiment could go a long way towards assisting the team. I'm sure _Lori_ would be quite happy and may even reward you should she hear of your involvement."

Hearing his crush might reward him did the trick. "I'm in!" Clyde replied enthusiastically.

"Excellent. Simply put this on." Lisa handed Clyde the headgear and he slipped it on around his forehead. Lisa searched around until she found the remote. "There we are!" She went back to Clyde. "Are you ready?"

"Is this going to hurt?" Clyde asked nervously.

"Oh, no. The brain has no pain receptors, so I'm sure you won't feel anything." She pressed her finger on the button. Immediately, the rectangular section of the headband light up with green light.

Lisa peered closely at Clyde. "How does it feel?"

"A little weird. Is my head supposed to feel tingly or-?" He groaned and began to shake and sweat. The device on his head started crackling with green energy. Clyde tried to grab the sides of it and take it off, but then the energy traveled down his arms and through his whole body. From the bottom of the headband, green circuitry lines started to creep down his face.

Lisa stared at him, completely frozen in shock until he let out a bloodcurdling scream, causing her to repeatedly hit the button on her remote.

"Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!" She pleaded.

Finally, the light on the headgear died down and the lines on Clyde's face vanished. He then collapsed to the ground.

"Clyde? CLYDE?!" Lisa gulped. "Oh no."

* * *

Meanwhile, Lincoln was still trying to get the hang of fighting while viewing information on his mask lenses. Unfortunately, that wasn't going so well.

"AWWW!" He yelled, as he was smacked across the room by one of the team's training bots now redesigned with jet propulsion and phase tech to resemble ghosts.

"Get it together Link!" Lori yelled, while hurling one of her orbs into one of the ghost bots.

"I'm doing my best!" He yelled back as he pulled himself to his feet. He tried his hardest to look past the images on his display and focus on the battle, but he couldn't manage. Behind him a ghost bot raised a hand to crush him but before it could, Charles's armor covered teeth crunched it into scrap metal.

"Maybe you should try something else bro." Lana said, from atop Charles's back.

"Yeah." Luan agreed, while she constricted a multitude of bots. "With the way you're fighting you won't stand a _ghost_ of a chance! HAHAHAHA, get it?"

Lincoln turned off his display and was just about to tell Luan exactly what she would get, when a piercing scream rang throughout the base. His blood turned cold when he realized he recognized the voice. It was Clyde's!

Immediately, the team stopped their training and headed towards the source of the noise until they arrived at Lisa's lab. They opened the door to find Lisa standing over Clyde's unmoving body.

"Clyde!" Lincoln rushed over to his friend and pressed his fingers against his neck. His heart skipped a beat when he didn't feel one on his friend. Enraged, he turned to Lisa.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" He screamed.

While taken aback by Lincoln's anger, Lisa managed to retort. "Brother, I suggest you calm down-."

"CALM DOWN?! LOOK AT HIM! Clyde is-is-." He couldn't say it.

"Still alive." Lisa finished, to Lincoln and the others confusion. She turned Clyde's head to reveal a circular metallic high-tech patch. Lincoln recognized it as the kind they used to monitor a teammates vitals when they were injured. "I checked him over with my equipment. His pulse is faint, too faint to be felt by human hand, but it's there. He's still alive."

Slightly pacified by hearing this, Lincoln said. "Set up a bed." Lisa pressed her communicator and a medical bed swung from under the floor.

Lincoln gestured to Lynn and Luna who were closest. "Help me get him up." The three of them lifted Clyde and gently placed him into the bed. The rest of the team huddled around him.

Once Clyde was settled in, Lori glared at Lisa. "What. Did You. Do?" She demanded coldly.

Lisa cowered slightly under her older sister's gaze. "I-I was simply trying to test a new invention I have been working on." She said carefully. "You see, after my success with using the meteorite formula to bind together unbound molecules, I got curious about its….other applications."

"Get to the point." Lori said through gritted teeth.

"I refined another meteorite shard and wove it into a computer chip programmed to focus neuroelectricity and data. I planned to use it for a new neurotransmitter design I've been tinkering with." Lisa said quickly

"The thing you implanted in your head to control your nano goo?!" Lori screeched.

Lisa was now shaking from head to toe. "Y-yes. I thought that the meteorite fragment would streamline the neuropathways, increase the rate of conversion of my thoughts to digital commands, make a more effective way of controlling my equipment. But something went wrong. Something caused a glitch in the system that made the device overload."

"How?" Lincoln demanded.

Lisa rubbed her chin in thought. "I don't know. I was sure it was set in the right place, I checked the wiring, calibrated the brain-." Lisa gasped. "The brainwave settings!"

"What?" Lori asked in confusion.

"My neurotransmitter is set so that it converts my specific brainwaves into digital code that activates commands in my nanotech. But Clyde's brainwaves are different than mine. He must not have been able to handle the intense amount of data pouring into his brain. That must have been why it overloaded."

"That….would have been….good to know…..before I put it on my head."

Lisa, Lori, and Lincoln all turned their heads to see Clyde weakly opening his eyes.

"Clyde!" Lincoln cried in relief. He pushed through his sisters and pulled his buddy into a hug. Then he released him and asked. "Are you ok?"

"I think so." Clyde croaked out. Mustering all his strength, he managed to sit up "But I have a splitting headache. Feels like my brains been put in the microwave."

"That would be thanks to Lisa." Lincoln said, casting an accusatory glance at her. Then he looked back at his friend. "So, you really feel alright?"

"Yeah." Clyde pushed himself off the bed and managed to stand up, his legs wobbling slightly. "I think I should be good."

Lisa looked at him worriedly. "You might have some kind of neurological damage." She warned. "Perhaps I should run a few tests just to make sure-."

"NO!" Lincoln interrupted. "No more test Lisa. You've done enough poking into my friend's brain." He grabbed Clyde by the shoulders and started leading him out of the lab. "Come on Clyde. Let's go play muscle fish."

"What about our training?" Lori asked.

"I think some down time might be a good idea." Lincoln replied.

Lori sighed. She turned to look at Lisa who was trying to quietly sneak away.

"Oh, we are NOT done."

* * *

After nearly having his brain cooked, playing a few rounds of muscle fish with his best friend seemed to do Clyde some good. As his fingers pounded into the controller as he tried beating Lincoln, the color returned to his face and he seemed almost back normal. Unfortunately, it didn't help the sting of defeat he felt from being continuously beaten.

"I lost again?" Clyde said disappointedly, after his tenth loss in a row.

"Hey, you're the one who said it would be fun just to play." Lincoln pointed out.

"Yeah." Clyde grumbled. He was about to press his start button to restart the game, when he suddenly clenched his eyes shut, and hissed in pain.

"Clyde? What's the matter?" Lincoln asked concernedly.

"Nothing. Just, headache." Clyde grunted out. Once the pain had subsided he opened his eyes and saw that the game had begun. "Did you restart?"

"Huh?" Lincoln glanced back at the screen. "No, I thought you were going to."

"I must have hit the button without realizing." Clyde said. He and Lincoln started playing again until he once again snapped his eyes closed and yelled out. "UGGH!"

"Clyde!" Lincoln yelled. He was about to reach over to his friend until he noticed that the T.V. was racing through different channels and the lights in the house were flickering.

"What's going on?!" Lincoln yelled.

Unfortunately for him things got worse. Clyde squeezed the sides of his skull and the lights turned on and off even more erratically while the T.V. became a swirl of indiscriminate lights and sounds.

Then, he let go of his head and managed to reopen his eyes and when he did, the lights stopped flickering and the T.V. returned to their game.

Clyde tried to catch his breath as he looked around the living room that had just been engulfed in madness. "D-did I do that?" He asked weakly.

Lincoln cast a concerned look at him. "I think we might need to go see Lisa."

* * *

At a building downtown, a woman with short spikey blonde hair and wearing a tan pants suit came out rapidly talking into her cellphone as she walked forward into a limousine.

"No. No! I told him no more monkeys after what happened last time. Look, we'll talk about this when I get there. I'm on my way." She entered the Limo.

Unknown to her, from behind an alleyway Specter, in his human form, stuck out his head and gave a red-eyed glare at the retreating vehicle. He phased into the ground beneath him.

Below ground, Specter followed after the limo for a few miles until he was directly underneath it. He phased himself upward into the seat next to the driver.

The driver gasped at the sudden new passenger.

"What the-?" Before he could finish that thought, Specter socked him across the jaw, knocking him out cold. The drivers face fell into the steering wheel and his foot fell on the acceleration, causing the Limo to barrel dangerously down the highway.

The woman in the back noticed the sudden rise in speed and banged on the driver screen window. "Hey, what are you trying to do? Break my neck? Do you know who I am?

The window lowered revealing Specter staring jovially from the front. The woman recoiled from the sight of him.

"Jack?" She whispered in disbelief.

Specter chuckled darkly. "Oh, I know exactly who you are. Which is why it's going to be so sweet watching you get crushed in this piece of junk. Fair warning, I'd buckle up. It's about to be a bit of a bumpy ride." He let out an evil cackle as he flew through the top of the Limo.

The woman panicked. She tried everything to get out, from the side doors to the sun roof, but they were all locked. In the end all she could do was let out a terrified shriek as the vehicle sped forward!

* * *

Clyde once again had a device attached to his head in Lisa's lab. This one, however, was more like a metal helmet than a headpiece. Lincoln and his sisters all stood watching as Lisa examined a few screens on her desk.

"Is this one going to zap me too?" Clyde asked, slightly concerned about another of Lisa's inventions being on his head.

"Nothing to fear Clyde." Lisa called over her shoulder. "This is the same equipment I used to examine the brains of myself, Lincoln, and Lori after we first discovered our abilities."

"So there's only a small chance it'll zap you." Lori snarked.

That didn't make him feel at ease.

"So, you really think Clyde has powers?" Lynn asked Lincoln.

"Well something weird happened. Every time he got a headache, it was like all the electrical stuff just went crazy." Lincoln argued.

"Maybe it was just a coincidence." Lori suggested.

Another headache rocked Clyde and as he groaned, the screens on Lisa's computers momentarily scrambled.

"I don't think it's a coincidence." Luna observed.

Once the pain was gone and Lisa managed to examine her data, Lori asked. "So what's it say?"

"It's remarkable." Lisa said excitedly. "It appears that Clyde's mind is both connecting his thoughts to electronic devices and converting his thoughts into digital programs. It's the exact effect I was aiming for with my device!"

"So Clyde is a superhuman?" Luan asked. "But, he couldn't effected by the event. It's been months. He would have found out if he had powers by now."

"No, his abilities aren't from the same source as ours. His came from my failed neuro transmitter." Lisa explained

"From your accident? How's that possible?" Lori asked.

"Remember, the focusing device for my transmitter had a piece of the same meteorite that gave Aquario and his army their powers. When the helmet overloaded, it must have released some of the shards radiation and it effected Clyde the same way it did them." Lisa explained.

"But why can't I control it? And why does my head keep hurting?" Clyde asked.

"My best guess is that your mind simply can't handle connecting to so many machines. Some of us need help controlling our abilities." Lisa theorized.

"Yeah dude. If I don't wear my collar, my voice gets way too loud. Even for me." Luna admitted.

"Well can you make something to help me control mine? I don't think I can take much more of these headaches." Clyde said.

Lisa pondered this and then snapped her fingers. "I've got it" She went over to her work desk and withdrew something from one of the drawers. After about 5 minutes of welding and hammering, she turned around holding the same circlet that gave Clyde his powers but with two other crescent shaped pieces, each bearing three lines on them, attached to the sides.

"Seriously? You're going to attach the same thing that messed up his brain in the first place?" Lori asked.

"The adjustment I've made should allow Clyde to filter out any unwanted connections his brain may create and focus his abilities on one machine at a time." Lisa handed Clyde the headpiece. "If you would."

Clyde nervously took the headpiece. He shut his eyes and slipped it over his head. He cracked open an eye to make sure he was still alive and then let out a relieved breath. "Okay, now what do I do?"

"Focus on a piece of technology in the lab." Lisa instructed.

Clyde looked around the lab until his eyes fell on Lori. His pupils shrank and he closed his eyes again. Then he placed two fingers from each hand on the crescent parts of the headpiece. The lines on the crescent parts glowed light green.

The team watched him with rapt attention. "Is he doing anything?" Lana asked.

Suddenly Lori's phone pinged. She pulled it out of her pocket and grimaced when she saw the screen. "He did something."

"What happened?" Asked Leni.

Lori showed her phone, revealing the image of Lori and Clyde's heads snuggled closely together and surrounded in a border of hearts on the screen.

"AWWW!" Leni crooned. She whipped out her phone and shoved it into his face. "Do mine next."

Suddenly, the team's communicators beeped.

"Wasn't me." Clyde said defensively.

"No. There's a speeding out of control limousine downtown." Lori announced as she checked her communicator.

"Out of control Limo? That's a new one." Lynn said.

"Whatever. Let's go!" Lori ordered. The team headed out of the lab.

"WAIT! What do I do?" Clyde yelled after them.

"Simply wait there Clyde. We'll run more tests on your abilities once we return." Lisa yelled back.

Clyde growled. He was not going to just sit there while they were out saving the day. There had to be something he could do!

Then, he looked up at the device on his head.

Maybe there was.

* * *

The Limo shot through the streets, which where luckily empty. The driver was still unconscious and the woman inside clutching onto one of the seats, praying to whoever she could for it to end.

Up above, the L-force was flying towards the vehicle on Walt's back. Control Freak and Link observed the racing Limousine.

"We got to find a way to slow down that Limo before it smashes into something." Control freak said. She looked to Link. "You got anything?

Link tried using his powers, but the Limo was too fast. He couldn't take the time and examine it. "It's going too fast." He explained.

"I could just jump down there and stop it myself." Athlete suggested.

Brainy shook her head. "That's too dangerous. The sudden stop of the car could result in damage to any people inside."

"Maybe Fool Could stretch herself out and make like a net to catch it?" Rocker suggested.

"No way it's going way too fast. It'd just take her with it." Even if his powers wouldn't work on the car, Link's mask could read how fast it was going.

"There has to be something we can do!" Freak cried.

Their ear communicators beeped before a voice came out of them. _"Is there anything I can do?"_

"Clyde?" Link asked recognizing his friend's voice. "What are you doing on our communication network?"

" _I went to your desk and started up your gear. I thought I might be able to help out somehow."_

"Not unless you can stop a speeding car." Athlete said.

"Wait! Maybe he can!" Brainy said.

They all stared at her confusedly.

"That Limousine is one of the newer models that has digital controls for it's speed and other features." Lisa explained. "If Clyde can use his abilities on it, then he can deactivate the acceleration and bring it to a sound stop."

" _But how do I use my powers from so far away?"_ Clyde asked.

Lisa shot out some nanotech and shaped it into a camera with a long lens, aimed it towards the Limo, and connected it to her communicator with a length of nanotech wire.

"Do you have a visual on your screens?" Brainy asked.

" _Yeah."_ Clyde responded.

"Good. Now try focusing your powers on the Limo."

" _I-I don't know if I can."_ Clyde admitted.

"You have to Clyde. The people down there need you." Control freak said.

Over the comms, they heard Clyde suck in a breath and breathe heavily in and out a few times before saying. _"O-okay Lori."_

The team watched the Limo below for a few minutes until it slowly began to lose speed. It continued going slower and slower until it finally came to a sound halt.

They could hear Clyde shout. _"I did it!"_

"Nice work Clyde." Control Freak said.

" _T-thanks L-L-L-Lor-."_ They heard the sound of a loud thump.

Control Freak sighed. "Of course."

Walt flew the rest of the team to the ground. Athlete went and ripped the door off the Limousine's side. Out came a white faced, shaking, disheveled looking woman with blonde hair.

Control Freak went up to her and asked. "Are you okay?" When she got no response, she repeated. "Are you okay? Ma'am?"

"Specter." The woman whispered hauntedly. She hugged herself and sank to the ground. "Specter."

* * *

The team returned to base to figure out their next move.

"Why would Specter attack some random lady?" Lori asked.

"Maybe she was someone who owed him money?" Luna suggested.

"Or maybe she was his girlfriend and the two of the broke up." Leni put forward.

"Well there is clearly some connection between the two." Lisa pointed out.

"I think I might have an idea."

The team looked at Clyde who had been standing off in the corner with two tissues up his nose.

"You know who she is?" Lori asked.

Clyde quivered when she said it, but he avoided looking at her and said. "No, but I think I might know how to find out."

He walked over to Lincoln's desk, the team following him.

Clyde asked Lisa. "Do you have a picture of her?"

Lisa pulled up an image of the woman they saved.

"Okay." Clyde took in a deep breath. He narrowed his eyes and splayed out his right hand at the computer screen. His headset starting glowing and on the screen a picture of the woman appeared. Text and images started flashing by until a page opened up with another image of the woman's face underneath purple text reading **The Eileen Elbriggs Show.**

The others were astonished.

"Wow." Leni said.

"Sweet!" Luna cheered.

"Nice work Clyde." Lincoln said, patting his friend on the back. Then he checked the words on the screen. "It says she was a big time journalist who recently got her own daytime talk show."

"My dads love those shows." Clyde interrupted.

"But what does she have to do with Specter?" Luan asked.

"Hold on." Clyde once again focused his powers and the information shifted again until a small news article appeared next to the other page.

"Brother of illustrious ghost hunter and member of revered ghost hunting group discovered to be fraud." Lori read. "This must be the article that exposed Specter."

"And look whose name is written on the byline." Lincoln said. Sure enough, the reporter who wrote the story was Eileen.

"So Specter wants revenge because this chick wrote the story that ruined him." Lynn realized

"It did more than that." Lucy said. "According to that website, running that article kicktarted her career. She got awards, accolades. I bet it probably even helped towards her show. Sigh, such a cycle. The life of her career came from the death of Specters."

"Now that we know why Specter tried to kill her maybe we can figure out where he might strike next." Lori said. "Clyde, I want you on it."

"Me?" Clyde asked. Blood began to pour from his nose and he swayed in place, but Lincoln grabbed him by his armpits before he collapsed.

After helping Clyde regain consciousness, Lincoln asked. "You really think Clyde can find Specter?"

"He's managed to do a pretty okay job so far." Lori admitted. She glanced in Clyde's direction and he wisely made sure to made sure to avoid looking at her. "I figure we can trust him with this. Who knows? If you manage to do good enough you might have a place on the team doing Lincoln's old job."

"Really?" Clyde squeaked, still not looking at her.

"Yeah." Lori said sincerely. Then she turned to the others. "Okay, in the meantime, lets get back to practicing our anti-specter moves. If Clyde can track him down we need to be ready."

The others followed her back to the training room, except for Lincoln who was still too overjoyed by what she'd just said.

Clyde might get to join the team!

...Doing his old job.

That thought managed to wipe the grin from his face. He turned to look at Clyde at his old desk and couldn't help but see himself back at that console, tediously typing away and staring longingly up at the corner with his sisters headlines pasted to it.

* * *

Most normal human beings who had nearly been crushed to death by a speeding limousine would take that as a sign to cancel the rest of their plans.

Eileen Elbriggs wasn't most human beings.

Okay, she had been badly spooked by seeing the man who's career she'd ruined returned as a spectral powered superhuman. Sure, the incident had freaked her out and left her shaking and crying in her dressing room for twenty minutes. And yes, she'd actually power walked to the studio because the idea of getting into another vehicle deeply terrified her.

But she'd worked long and hard to get her show. She prided herself on filming on time to show her dedication and she wasn't going to let some freak with ghost powers ruin her perfect record.

She straightened her hair, dusted off her pants suit, and threw open her dressing room door. As she got closer to the stage she could hear the voices in the crowd, melting away any anxiety she may have had before.

She burst out onto the stage, causing the entire audience to break out into a cheer. Her adrenaline pumping, she grabbed the microphone off her usual chair.

"How's everyone doing today?" She asked. The cheering soon rose to an uproar. She threw her head back and let out a confident laugh, wondering how she had even considered not coming in today.

"That's great to hear because we got a great show today! Our first guest-." But before she could continue, the lights above the stage began to mysteriously flicker on and off.

This distracted her for a moment before she let out a nervous chuckle and said. "Heh, don't worry it's just a little technical glitch." She turned her back to the audience and pressed her earpiece. "Someone get a stagehand up here to fix these lights!" She hissed. Then she turned back to the audience. "So, as I was saying-."

But then, a deep demonic cackle echoed throughout the studio. From the area in between the stage and the audience seats, a pitch black hand the size of a car emerged from the floor and grabbed hold of the stage. The hand pulled upward, bringing a humanoid body the same shade as the hand with tentacle like hair and burning bright red eyes out of the ground.

The people in the audience got out of their seats and tried to run towards the exits, but the creatures tentacles extended and blocked the doors.

Eileen was frozen in fear, gazing into the creatures glowing crimson orbs as it glared down at her with a mixture of amusement and malice.

**"Hello Eileen. You and I have a _lot_ to talk about."**

* * *

Lincoln tried to working with the others but, even though he wasn't blinded by the view of his mask screen anymore, he still wasn't able to do much. The whole time, Lori's words to Clyde had echoed in his head.

_You might have a place doing Lincoln's old job_

_Lincoln's old job._

_Lincoln's old job._

_Lincoln's old job._

The more he thought about it, the more he realized how what had sounded great might end up becoming a terrible mistake. Forcing Clyde to be the one stuck behind the desk while he and his sisters saved the day? Having Clyde look up information while he and his sisters were out being superheroes? Making Clyde feel the same way he had been feeling every time his sisters went into the field and he had to stay back and be their computer guy?

He couldn't let that happen to his best friend!

No, he had to do something to make sure this didn't happen.

Seeing that his sisters were all busy fighting training bots, Lincoln snuck out into the hall and headed back to the meeting room, where he found Clyde with his hand pressed against one of the computer screens, his headset glowing.

"Clyde?" His friend looked away from the screen and saw him.

"Hey Lincoln." Clyde waved to him before placing his hand back on the screen.

"So...still on the hunt for Specter?" Lincoln asked innocently.

"Yep! I'm checking news sites to see if anythings comes up on him."

"You're really set on finding him huh?" Lincoln continued.

"Of course! Not only will I be helping put a dangerous superhuman behind bars, but I'll have helped you guys do your superhero thing too! I might even get a spot on the team!"

"Yeah...but will you really?" Lincoln asked.

Clyde frowned and pulled away from the screens to look curiously at his friend. "What do you mean?"

Lincoln thought of how to put it. "It's just, being at the console and being part of the team are two different things Clyde. Take the office mission. I was part of the team, so I was helping fight Specter, but If I was at the console-."

"That's it!" Clyde interrupted. "The office building!" Clyde returned his hand to the screen and searched through information until he found what he was looking for. "Ah-ha!" He yelled triumphantly. Clyde pressed a button on the console that tied into the bases intercom system. "Everyone get up here! I found where Specters going to be." He then gratefully hugged his friend. "Thanks Lincoln. I couldn't have figured it out without you."

"Great." Lincoln said unenthusiastically.

The others soon arrived. "What did you find?" Lori asked.

Clyde avoided her gaze and directed them towards the console. "I looked through the digital records of the place that Specter robbed. What he took was the receit of a transaction for a limousine rental to pick up Mrs Elbriggs. That's how he knew where to find her."

"Okay, and where was the limousine headed?"

"To the studio where her show is set to record. In fact, it should be going on right about now." Clyde said proudly.

"Alright Clyde!" Lori patted him on the back, causing a shudder to run down his body. "Okay. We know where to find Specter and we're all locked and loaded. Let's finally catch this freak!"

The rest of the team yelled out affirmations.

"Clyde, you good staying here and feeding us intel?"

Clyde gave a nod.

"Then let's go!"

"Lori wait." Lincoln interrupted, causing everyone to look over and see him staring at the ground with a unyielding expression. "I don't think Clyde should be at the console for this mission."

The others all gasped.

"What?" Lola yelled.

"What are you talking about?!" Lynn said angrily.

Clyde stared his friend with complete disbelief.

"Lincoln, I don't understand. I-i managed to stop that limousine, I find out about Eileen, I figured out where Specter is going to be. I can do this!"

"No you can't." Lincoln replied, his voice completely devoid of emotion, still not looking at any of them. "You're not ready for this Clyde."

"Not ready?" Lori repeated angrily. "I seem to recall that on our first mission you stepped to the stupid console with nothing but your powers and whatever experience constantly laying around and playing video games gives you!"

"He's not ready!" Lincoln roared back, finally tearing his eyes from the ground. "Specter is a serious bad guy and if we go up against someone like that with someone inexperienced in our ear we're going to end up dead!"

Lori stared crossly at her brother before calmly replying. "Okay Lincoln. Fine. You do it."

"What?!"

"You heard me! If you really don't think Clyde's good enough then you're our only option. I mean it is for the good of the team right?" Lori asked, giving him a pointed look.

Lincoln clenched his fists. Lori knew he hated the idea of simply being put back behind the console, especially on such an important mission, but he also knew he couldn't let Clyde do this.

"Fine." He grumbled. He went over and moved Clyde out of the way before setting himself at the desk.

Seeing he had made up his mind, Lori simply said. "Come on."

The others all took worried glances back at Lincoln before following Lori, leaving Lincoln with his friend, now bearing a crushed expression directed at Lincoln's back.

* * *

Specter smugly grinned down at the audience. " **How is everyone enjoying the show?** "

The only response given were the muffled screams of the audience, streams of Specter's tentacles binding their arms and legs to their chairs and gagging their mouths. All they could do was watch in horror as Specter slowly approached Eileen, who was similarly entrapped to a seat on the stage.

" **So, Eileen. You've had such incredible success in your life. Top-notch reporter, Politzer award winner, and now even a prime time talk show. But i'm sure we're all wondering one thing: Where did your success story begin?** "

Eileen let out small terrified noises, tears and snot running down her face.

Specter mockingly scratched his umbral chin before saying." **Oh, now I remember. For your first big expose´ you decided to investigate a well known ghost hunter.** " Specter began inching closer and closer to her, her gagged please growing louder and louder. " **So you joined his crew, learned all his secrets, and RUINED! HIS! LIFE!** " He roared into her face, drowning out the sound of her fearful sobs.

" **What's the matter Eileen? Nothing to say for yourself?** " He momentarily unwound his tentacle from around her mouth.

She immediately started letting out apologies. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! Please don't kill-!" Specter wrapped his shadowy appendage back around her mouth.

 **"I'm afraid it's too late to apologize. _You took everything from me_! So now, i'll take _everything_ _from you!_** " Specter raised his hand and extended his claws until they were as long as daggers. He raised them over Eileen's head. She shut here eyes, expecting the end. Specter brought his claws down on her-!

But, an inch from her forehead, the hand was stopped by a colorful line of thread!

Specter looked and saw that while he was distracted, the L-force had come in through one of the now unblocked exits.

Specter screeched in anger. " **No! Not you again!"**

Before he could make a move, Princess blasted him with a full force energy burst, causing him to shriek in agony and his tentacles to peel off all of his victims, including Eileen. Immediately, they all started running towards the exits.

" **NO!** " Specter reached out to try and rebind them all but Tailor shot off several more lines of thread all wrapping around him until his entire body up to his head was bound in it. He struggled to get out of it, but couldn't manage to break the rope. He tried phasing through it but couldn't. He hopped angrily on the stage, continuing to unleash shouts of rage.

The team all moved up to the stage where Miss Elbriggs was still sitting in shock.

"Are you okay?" Control Freak asked. Eileen blinked for a second before engulfing her in a hug.

"Thank you...Thank you!" She cried heavily into Control Freaks shoulder. "You saved me again. He was going to-." She couldn't even finish the sentence and continued bawling.

Control Freak kindly patted her back. "It's okay. Everything's going to be alright." She gave a hateful glare at Specter. "He's not going to hurt anyone anymore."

* * *

Lincoln observed the situation on the screen. "Looks like they won't need me after all. Maybe we could bail and go finish our game of Muscle fish." When he got no response, he turned around to his friend. "Clyde?"

Clyde shot him a scorned glance. "Oh, i'm sorry. Am I suddenly good enough to talk to? I'd hate to drag the _more experienced_ desk guy from his job. "

Lincoln winced, knowing how that must have sounded to his friend. "Clyde, I-."

"What did I do wrong Lincoln?" Clyde interrupted. "I practically handed Specter to you guys and yet you still don't think I'm good enough!"

"It's not that you're not good enough!" Lincoln replied.

"Then why would you not let me work with the team?" Clyde asked. "You know what? I think you're just jealous!"

"Jealous? Of what!"

"How about the fact that they asked me to join after only a day, while you've been stuck behind that desk and only really started a few months ago!"

"Oh don't act all impressive Clyde!" Lincoln yelled, forgetting himself in his anger. "You tracked down one super villain. It's not like you've been named the new leader."

"Well at least I respect the leader we do have!"

"Oh, like you would dare defy an order from your _precious Lori!"_

"Why you-!"

The two boys argued fervently, ignoring the scene playing out on the computer screen.

* * *

Specter struggled in vain to escape his crocheted prison. Most of the people in the room had evacuated leaving only the L-force who were leading Eileen to the exits.

"Don't worry." He heard Control Freak say. "We'll make sure he gets sent to the proper authorities and stays with them this time."

His rage boiled over. All he could think of was how, again, he had been denied revenge because of those no good heroes.

He could already imagine what would happen next. Eileen would be led to safety, he'd be in custody, this time actually able to be held without the need for drugs, and he'd NEVER get his revenge on those who had wronged him!

That one thought made his vision turn as red as his eyes.

Specter gave an unearthly ghostly wail and began thrashing violently against the stage, causing everyone to look back at him.

" **NO!NO!NO!NONONONONONONONO!"** He repeated dementedly. Before anyone could do anything a wave of bright red light erupted from Specter and washed over the entire room.

The L-force looked around but nothing seemed to have happened besides Specter continuing to moan and strain. Then, all the chairs in the audience area became covered in bright red light and began to levitate into the air.

"Uh, what's going on?" Athlete asked worriedly.

"It appears Specter has unlocked a latent telekinetic ability." Brainy said.

"Well he's not the only one with brain power!" Control Freak raised her hand and focused on the chairs, her own telekinetic aura overtaking Specters and pushing the chairs back down.

Specter screamed. " **NO!** " And the chairs were once again overtaken by the red aura lifted up again. Freak pushed her power over them again, causing them to begin to fall.

And thus the two engaged in a mental tug of war, theirs auras momentarily effecting the chairs before the other pushed it off. But Freak soon found herself struggling. Freaks powers were fueled by concentration and focus but Specters were fueled by raw emotion and he was strengthened by pure burning rage. He would not lose to the L-force again!

With one last surge of telekinetic energy Specter overpowered Freak allowing him to levitate the chairs and slam them into the L-force members pinning them to the wall and hurling one at Eileen causing her to crumple to the ground.

Seeing his hated enemies beaten, Specter smiled a fanged smile and focused his newfound powers onto a piece of metal from the stage setup and used it to slice through Tailors threads. He then turned his attention to the L-force and Eileen.

**"Now where were we?"**

* * *

Meanwhile, at L-force base the two boys were still arguing.

"Well at least I'm not hung up on a girl who is never going to date me!" Lincoln yelled.

"Well at least I have a girl to be hung up on. What girl have you ever talked to besides your sisters?" Clyde retorted.

"I have talked to plenty-!" They were interrupted by the sound of an alarm from Lincoln's console. He went over to check it out and his face paled upon seeing the image displayed on it's screen.

Seeing his friend's reaction, Clyde nervously walked over and asked. "What's wrong?" Lincoln didn't respond but instead moved to the side so he could see for himself.

At the Eileen show set, The host herself and the other L-force members were all lined up on stage and wrapped in ropes of super string from Tailors spools. Specter floated behind them, glancing down and no doubt contemplating the horrendous things he would do to them now that they were at his mercy.

Clyde stared in horror at the monitor. "We have to do something!"

Lincoln nodded. "I'm going to head to the set." He was about to race off but Clyde stopped him by grabbing his arm.

"Wait! Lincoln, you can't fight Specter alone! He's too powerful!"

"Oh, i'm sorry. Am I supposed to wait for the other superhero team to come help?"

"But Lincoln-!"

"Clyde there is no one else." Lincoln pulled his arm out of his friends grasp. "My sisters are in trouble and I have to save them. Even if I have to do it on my own." He ran down towards the exit.

Clyde glared at the space his friend once occupied before looking back at the console. "You're not on your own."

* * *

Link vaulted as quickly as he could to the studio. Worried that Specter may be watching the main entrance, he snuck in through the back door and came in from behind the stage. He peeked out and saw Specter still looking at his siblings, seemingly contemplating his next move.

**"Hmmmm, what should I do with you? I could rend you all to bits with my claws, but that could get messy. I could try to crush you with my mind powers, but that would be so dull. One quick "CRACK" and it's over. Oooh, maybe I could move your bodies and make you destroy _yourselves!_ Now that would make excellent telivision!"**

Eileen was now conscious but softly crying as she stood helplessly. Lincoln's sisters however, were struggling against their bonds trying to escape, but to no avail even with their powers. Luna and Lori in particular were also distressed as they had ropes of thread around their mouth and eyes respectively preventing them from using her their. Link wasn't surprised that they couldn't escape. Leni's thread was extremely strong, heatproof, and, since being treated by Lisa's meteorite solution, nearly indestructible.

Just as he was thinking of how to get them out, Link was distracted by a burst of static from his comm.

_"Lincoln? What's going on?"_

Link groaned. "Clyde now isn't the time. I'm trying to figure out how to help my sisters."

_"Well is there anything I can do from here?"_

Link scoffed. "I don't think you hacking Specter's E-mail is going to do much."

He heard Clyde groan over the connection. " _I don't get it. Why are you so upset? I thought you would be happy. Me doing this could mean that I could actually join the team. That I could work alongside you!"_

"No it wouldn't!" Link snapped. He sighed and said. "Clyde I know you think it would be great getting to be the desk guy, but it wouldn't."

_"But you did it-"  
_

"And I hated it." Lincoln pointed out. "Yeah, at first it seems cool, it feels like your helping the team in your own special way but after a while...I started hating being stuck in that chair. And worse, I started hating that my sisters got to be real superheroes while I had to sit on the sidelines. I just worried that if you took the job you'd eventually feel the same way."

There was complete silence on the other end until Clyde said. _"Well, How do you think I feel already?"_

"Huh?"

_"Lincoln, you always talk about all these amazing missions you and your sisters go on together. Sure, you might not be in the middle of the action but at least you get to do something. All I can do is listen to you telling me about everything after it all went down. It might hurt to feel like a sidekick but it hurts just as much to just be "the superheroes powerless friend."._

Link was shocked. He had no idea his friend had been feeling like this for so long. "Clyde i-i'm so sorry."

He heard Clyde sigh. _"Look Lincoln, maybe your right and I will start to feel bummed out about not doing that much, but I want to do everything I can to try and help you and your sisters. And with the powers that I have this is the best way for me to do it."_

"You're right. I'm sorry Clyde. I should've had more faith in you."

_"It's okay. You were just looking out for me."_

**"Awww, how touching."**

Link's eyes bugged. He slowly craned his neck upward and saw Specter grinning down at him.

**"So, once again you show up just as your sisters are about to be destroyed. I'm starting to see a bit of a pattern here."**

Link steeled his resolve. He may not have had that much experience but he definitely wasn't the rookie he was when he first fought Specter.

"Well then maybe you'll remember this!" He withdrew a flash grenade from his utility belt and flung it to the ground. It released a blast of light that burned Specter, forcing him to phase into the floor.

Knowing he wouldn't have much time, Link quickly ran towards his sisters and started tugging on their binds, but it was no use. The super string was too strong.

"Link, you got to get out of here!" Athlete said.

Rocker gave a muffled agreement while nodding.

"No way, I'm not leaving you guys!" Link continued to try and tear off the ropes to no avail

Specter flew upward through the floor wailing like a banshee but Link took out another flash grenade and activated it, forcing him to begrudgingly retreat again.

Link knew he had to think of something fast. He only had a few flash grenades left and he couldn't keep up repelling Specter with them forever. He needed to find something else.

He looked around, trying to see if his powers might show him anything of use. Meanwhile, Specter returned from beneath the ground and Link offhandedly tossed down another flash grenade, causing him to flee once more.

Then, Link's eyes locked onto an area above the stage where 4 powerful high wattage lights were set up. With his abilities he calculate where exactly the light would hit on the ground and immediately knew how to beat Specter. The only problem was he would need to lure him into the right spot.

But how would he get the lights...

 _"Lincoln, what's going on?!"_ He heard Clyde shout.

That was it.

"Clyde, I have a plan. I need you to use your powers to turn on the lights exactly when I say so."

_"But I can't see the lights!"_

Lincoln looked up at the lights and pressed the side of his mask. "Can you see the picture from my mask?"

 _"Y-yeah._ " Clyde said.

"Good. Then all you need to do is use your powers when I say to."

**"You won't get that chance!"**

Unbeknownst to Link, he had been so focused on talking to Clyde and looking at the light he'd failed to see Specter reemerge from the floor and ended up getting smacked into the wall behind the stage.

Link groaned for a few minutes, trying to stop his dizzyness before focusing on Specter and realizing he was exactly where he needed him.

He looked up at the lights, praying his mask hadn't once again been damaged. "Clyde do it!" He yelled.

The lights remained inactive.

Panicked, Link dug into his utility belt and blanched upon realizing he was out of flash grenades.

Specter chuckled. **"Looks like your out of tricks. But I'm not."** He pointed his hand behind himself and levitated all the chairs left in the studio.

Link stared at the lights as hard as he could. "Clyde! Hurry!"

Specter threw his hand forward causing the chairs to hurtle forward. Link braced himself for the impact-!

But then the lights turned on illuminating Specter with light!

Specter screeched in agony as the light burned his ghostly form, causing steam to peel off his body. The chairs he had been trying to throw at Link fell harmlessly to the floor, inches from the young superheroes face.

Specter continued to writhe in pain, the intense light burning so badly he couldn't even focus enough to phase, until finally collapsing to the ground, his body shrinking to human form.

Link let out a relieved laugh. "You did it Clyde!"

_"We did it, Lincoln."_

* * *

The day after the battle, the team was grouped together in the main room. Clyde was standing anxiously in front of the console. Lori stepped forward.

"Clyde, you showed real skill out there yesterday. Because of how well you handled yourself at the desk and the way you assisted in stopping Specter, I want to offer you a full spot on the team. What do you say?" She noticed his eyes were completely glazed over. She rolled hers and shook him by the shoulders.

"Augh! What? Oh, yeah. Y-yes ma'm. I won't let you down." Clyde stammered.

"I'll hold you to that." The rest of the team came forward to offer their congratulations.

"Nice job Clyde!"

"Welcome to the gang bro."

"Don't get in my way and we should be good."

While receiving the praise, Clyde noticed Lincoln and Lisa standing slightly away from the others. Taking a deep breath, he walked over to his friend and asked. "Are you okay with this?"

"Well, when Lori told me she was going to offer it to you whether I said yes or no I didn't think it would matter." Lincoln admitted.

Clyde winced.

"So, I thought this might help answer things." Once he said "this" Lisa revealed a black case from behind her back and Lincoln opened it and withdrew what was inside.

It was a a supersuit. It was bluish-white with green electronic lines all throughout it. On the chest part was the power symbol found on computers, and the same symbol acting as the belt buckle for the green belt. In Lincoln's hand was a green vizer that was slightly lighter green than Lisa's. On the wrist was a high tech gauntlet like device.

Clyde gazed at the suit in complete awe. "This is amazing!"

"I figured that if you were going to be a part of the team, you'd need a suit." Lincoln said proudly.

"And I hoped that this might be a way of apologizing for using you as a guinea pig for my experiment." Lisa admitted.

Clyde took the suit with glee, holding it up against his body to see how it looked. "No problem, it all ended up working out. Now all I need is a cool superhero name."

Lincoln thought it over before looking at Lisa and asking. "Didn't you say Clyde got his powers because of some kind of glitch in your machine?"

"Indeed. Why?"

"Well, how about Glitch?" Lincoln suggested.

"Glitch." Clyde listened to how it sounded and smiled. "I like it."

"Then Glitch it is." Lincoln took a step towards his friend and gave him a congratulatory smile. "Welcome to the team pal."

Clyde beamed back at him. "Thanks Lincoln."

Lori stretched and yawned. "Well, I don't know about you guys but I think I'm going to head back to the house for some R&R. Who's else is in?"

The others all agreed. They all started to head for the exit but Clyde grabbed Lincoln's arm before he could go.

"I think I want to ask Lincoln some superhero questions." Clyde explained. The others shrugged and left them alone.

Lincoln looked at him. "What do you need to know?"

Clyde grinned and beckoned his friend to the desk. He focused on the console until a familiar image appeared on it.

"Muscle fish?" Lincoln gasped. Clyde dug around and withdrew two video game controllers.

"I figure with these powers we can finally have a fair game again." Clyde said.

"Hah!" Lincoln said. "You're on."

And the two boys eagerly started playing their game.

_**"This superhero stuff doesn't get any easier. And the more you do it, the more you need good people to help you get through it all. But as long as I've got Clyde and my sisters by my side, I know there's nothing the world can throw at us that we can't handle."** _

* * *

Specter clenched his fists as he sat in his tiny cell. Not only did his phasing powers not work because of whatever they put on the walls and floor but since there was no furniture or objects he couldn't even use his new telekinesis.

His thoughts turned once again to his latest defeat. Once again he had been defeated by those... _children_! And by the weakest one at that! They kept him from his revenge!

But the worst part was that now he had no way out. With the phase proof walls he couldn't escape and he had no doubt the walls of the transfer van and his prison cell would be the same. He figured he'd never escape and most likely never see the outside of a prison again.

So he was quite surprised when the guard opened his cell and declared him free to go.

"What's going on?" Specter asked suspiciously.

"Someone came in and payed your bale in full." The guard shrugged. "Guess you got someone looking out for you."

Before, he would have simply phased through the ceiling outside and be on his way. But now he was curious. Who would pay his bale? Surely not his self righteous brother.

When he came outside he saw a massive black limo with an attendant holding a sign reading **Specter.**

Still slightly apprehensive, Specter walked to the attendant who nodded his head and opened the door of the limo for him.

Specter stepped in and for a few seconds nothing happened until a monitor with two speakers on each side descended from the ceiling.

_**"Hello Mr Specter. I'm quite happy to be able to meet with you.** _

The voice pouring from the speakers was deep and clearly distorted.

"Who are you?" Specter asked.

**_"Someone who has been keeping a close eye on your actions. Someone who is keen on keeping you a free man, and someone who is in need of someone with your...unique abilities."_ **

The monitor screen began playing video footage of him fighting the L-force at the Eileen show.

_**I'd like to hire you to perform a few services for me. Small things that require your skill set."** _

Still not convinced, Specter asked the obvious question. "What's in it for me?"

_**"I can offer you what I know you want most. Fame, fortune, and most importantly, revenge on the L-force."** _

A dangerous smile slowly began to stretch across Specter face. His pupils turned burning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now for the notes.
> 
> Clyde's Powers- I notice in a lot of Loud superhero stories most people don't give Clyde any powers and I wanted to change that. I got the idea for his powers from the robot noises he makes whenever around Lori. The origin of them came from that scene in the sleepover episode where Lisa placed that device over his head.
> 
> Clyde's role on the team-I admit, Clyde being the teams chair guy isn't that original an idea but I still like it. He personally strikes me as someone who wouldn't want to be as out in the action as Lincoln. As for why he neded to get powers to do it, that's actually pretty simple. Being the Chair guy means adding something to the teams tactics. There's a reason it's felicity smoak and Cisco Ramone behind the chairs: They're geniuses and can add something like tech expertise. The chair thing was Lincoln's job in the first place because he functioned as the teams tactition, so if Clyde was going to do it, he would need to bring something else to the table besides enthusiasm.
> 
> Specter's new power-This might seem to come out of nowhere but I like it. Besides, Danny Phantom always gets random new ghost powers so why shouldn't he?


End file.
